1909.] STRAND PLANTS OF NEW JERSEY. 79 



Strand Plants. — The typic sand-inhabiting plants will be de- 

 scribed first. 



Ammophila arenaria (Plate II, Fig. i; Plate IV, Figs, i, \a, 

 2, 2a). — The beach, or marram grass, is a perennial species with 

 firm, running rootstocks, which on account of their length, and the 

 readiness with which the rigid, leafy culms arise from them serve 

 to bind the drifting sand. The one-flowered spikelets are crowded 

 in a long spike which reaches its full development in August and 

 September. The leaves are involute and in a Wildwood-grown 

 specimen (Plate IV, Fig. i) examined microscopically the lower 

 epidermis consisted of small cells with thick outer wall reinforced 

 by 2-3 rows of hypodermal sclerenchyma isolated in patches below 

 the vascular bundles. The upper epidermis, covering the grooves 

 and the ridges, is irregular owing to the development of short, 

 sharp-pointed hairs like canine teeth, which help to form an air-still 

 chamber. The stomata are much depressed and level with the 

 lower wall of the epidermal cells (Plate IV, Figs, la and 2a). 

 Beneath the epidermis, hypodermal sclerenchyma is found in several 

 well-marked rows. The chlorenchyma occupies a position on either 

 side of the veins which run lengthwise. In the leaf section of a 

 plant gathered at South Atlantic City (Plate IV, Fig. 2), the lower 

 epidermis is reinforced by a continuous band of hypodermal scleren- 

 chyma. The hypodermal sclerenchyma in the upper part of the 

 ridges is more abundant than in the Wildwood-grown plants. A 

 section of a leaf from a plant that grew on the low dunes of Belmar 

 had comparatively little hypodermal sclerenchyma and in every way 

 it was a thinner leaf than those from the Wildwood and South 

 Atlantic City specimens. 



Euphorbia polygonifolia (Plate IV, Figs. 3 and 2,a). — The sea- 

 side spurge is a prostrate, spreading herb, with oblong-linear leaves 

 slightly cordate, or obtuse at the base and folding together along 

 the midrib. The most conspicuous feature in the section is the 

 large latex canals which fairly fill the center of the leaves and are 

 marked by large surrounding, secreting cells. The upper epidermal 

 cells are papillate, and the lower epidermal cells are without these 

 papillae, but the outer wall is thickened. The stomata are slightly 



PROC. AMER, PHIL, SOC, XLVHI. I9I F, PRINTED JULY 6, I909. 



