seedlings of Artemisia stelleriana were also found on the site in May 1979 and 

 survived the summer. In late August, hundreds of Artemisia stelleriana seeds 

 germinated near parent plants, but were killed by sand burial early in the 

 fall. 



While only two fragments of Lathyvus .jaoonieus regenerated in 1978, 157 

 Lathyvus japonicus seedlings were present within the site in 1978. All these 

 plants were monitored the following year. The two asexually produced plants 

 survived the winter, but all the seedlings died. New seedlings (164) were 

 produced in 1979, and no new fragments regenerated. 



In 1978 only two fragments of Solidago sempervirens regenerated at site 1; 

 both these plants survived the winter. In 1979, an additional 25 fragments 

 regenerated and 76 seedlings were present at the site. Many of these seed- 

 lings (31) germinated at intertidal elevations and were killed by spring tides 

 in July. 



The other naajor species to regenerate from fragments at site 1 was Spar~ 

 tirta patens. In 1978, 193 tillers of Spartina patp-ns were present in site 1, 

 all from fragment regeneration. Several groups of tillers were eroded during 

 the winter, and several new drift piles were established in 1S79, with a total 

 of 1,040 Spartina patens tillers. There are two reported varieties of 

 Spartina patens in New England: Spartina patens decumbent and Spartina patens 

 var. monog>ina. Decumbent Spartina patens is a thtn-bladed, early flowering 

 grass that establishes mats of vegetation in the high marsh. Spartina patens 

 var. monogijna is erect, somewhat taller, later flowering, and grows in the 

 dune-marsh ecotone in sandy substrata. Inspection of the Spartina patens 

 population indicated that both varieties were present at site 1. Two groups 

 of plants flowered in 1979 and coincided with Spartina patens var. monogyna 

 flowering. 



Early in 1978 it became evident that most new plants on washover features 

 were associated with drift material. Vegetation sampling in August 1978 

 indicated hat 85 f ercent of quadrats with seedlings or regenerating fragments 

 also contained surface drift debris. Excavation of plants outside sampled 

 areas revealed that virtually all new plant roots were associated with decay- 

 ing organic material. 



Chapman (1}76) described two types of drift lines along the British coast: 

 one located on the ocean beach, composed primarily of algae and diverse vas- 

 cular plant tissue with a restricted flora, and another located at the upper 

 reaches of the bait marsh, composed of marsh-grass detritus with a more diver- 

 sified flora. Following the February 1978 storm, three types of drift lines 

 with three distinct floras were present on Nauset Spit: (1) storm drift 

 piles, (2) oceanic drift lines, and (3) bay drift lines. 



(1) Storm Drift Piles . Overwash surges tore large sections of 

 organic material from dune and shrub communities. This debris collected in 

 masses along "avast : ? pit-Eastham (Fig. 82). Often a di&placed shrub (Myriea 

 pensi^vaniea, Rcsa r-.igosa, or Primus maritinu) or remnants of the four houses 

 that were destroyed during the February 1978 storm acted as a nucleus, which 

 crught other material carried by storm waves. Occasionally, uprooted dune 

 v- getation, primarily Ammophila breviligulata, was displaced by overwash in a 

 sizable unit and accumulated passing debris. Dimensions of storm drift piles 



133 



-S\ 



