A SURVEY OF THK LOWER TKES MARSHES 133 



appended compositioTi, frequently closed but often enough 

 open, holds possession : — 



Plaiitago maritiina d Biyum Warneum f 



Spergularia salina r Bryum calophyllum . f 



Erythraea pulchella sd 



The on)}" other point of interest in Greenabella Marsh is the 

 sea wall itself, and it can display fine patches of the lichen 

 PJivscia parietiiia and the fern Dryopferis aristata — an 

 important observation when one recollects how generally ferns 

 and lichens have been exterminated within the radius affected 

 by blast furnace smoke. 



Over the embankment, and enclosed between the old and 

 the new roads, lies a detached piece of land allied in its 

 vegetation to that just discussed. Not so very long ago, this 

 was covered by a shallow sheet of salt water falling into 

 Greatham Creek lower down its course. At present, it is 

 severed from that body of water by the new road, and as a 

 result the pool is steadily drying up. Any interest that the 

 nook claims depends not upon its rich Flora but upon its 

 rather strange successions. In the earlier stages, when the 

 receding water exposes a stretch of almost bare soil, nothing 

 grows for a while except Glyceriafluitans and Glmix maritiina, 

 both of which, despite the saltness of the water, grow freely 

 within it. Then as elsewhere Rhizocloniiim appears, followed 

 by the annual Salicorniae, but before these vanish, two 

 curious liverworts gain a footing ; to wit, Aneura pinguis 

 and Pallavicima Flototviana. Next the Salicorniae lose 

 ground rapidly, and we have in their stead an irregular open 

 association of the foregoing plants and very stunted yuiiats 

 Gerardi, Spergularia, Plantago, Triglochin, until we reach 

 what was the original water's edge. Here we encounter a 

 Juncetum dominated by j/^nncus Gerardi, including : — 



Juncus Gerardi d GJaux mavitima f 



Glyceria maritima Id Triglochin maritimum r 



Salicornia spp o Festnca rubra f 



S'pergularia spp Aneura pinguis Isd 



