io 6 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [february 



quantities. When salt is found it has been deposited as spray from the 

 sea, but this is rapidly washed out by rain water, and when no precipi- 

 tation has fallen, the sodium chlorid does not come into contact with the 

 ground water but is detained on the surface by the upward movement of 

 the water. Because of this the roots of the plants are not exposed to 



sodium chlorid. 



uppermost 



layer of sand usually contains some salt, but deeper in the soil no salt is 

 found before we reach the sea-level. The upper beach has very 

 similar conditions, as a rule, except at times when inundated by high 

 water. Even on the middle beach we cannot find that the sand would 

 be impregnated with salt. On the contrary, for quite a considerable 

 depth there is fresh water, which, on account of its being lighter than 

 the salt water, flows on top of the latter. This fresh water is a part 

 of the continuous stream of rain water, w r hich slowly works its way to 

 the sea. The roots of the plants do not, as a rule, penetrate deeper 

 than to the bottom of this fresh-water layer, and it is therefore wrong 

 to assume that the plants are growing in salt water on the beach. 

 Even on the front beach, the layer in which the roots of the plants 

 are situated has more of a brackish character, because the water from 



runs 



of fresh water, which flows on the surface of the salty ground water. 

 On a superficial investigation of the beach it appears that the 

 ground is thoroughly soaked with salt water, but careful sampling 

 from various depths and subsequent analysis has made it apparent to 

 the writer that this is not the case. It is a well-known fact, however. 



much 



centage of sodium chlorid than that of inland plants. This is due, of 

 course, to the presence of a greater amount of salt on the sea shore 

 than inland. But when it comes to a comparison between the con- 



formations 



1 



much ereater. This fact brint 



forward the question whether all sea-shore plants are halophiles 



not. Kearney 



or 

 the 



result that they are not. The present writer made numerous expen 



as the following discussion will show. 



confirm 



i 



It has long ago been proved by experiments that most inland plants 



