Grasses 153 
The land has its assistants, too,—a humble host, 
—whose work is done quietly, and chiefly under- 
ground, but whose combined aid is invaluable. 
These are the coast-grasses, whose stems bend to 
the winds, but whose widely-penetrating roots 
bind the sands in a network of tough fibres, and 
defy the encroachments of the waves. 
On the Atlantic seaboard, from Canada to Vir- 
ginia, the coastwise sand-dunes are overgrown with 
” 
the ‘‘marram-grass’’ or ‘‘sea sand-reed” (Fig. 37). 
Its strong rootstocks often attain a length of 
twenty feet or more, and become closely inter- 
woven, forming a netlike mass which is very re- 
sistant to the force of wind and sea. Further 
south the ‘‘little panic-grass”” takes up the good 
work, and gives permanence to the coast-lines of 
Florida and the Gulf States. The running mes- 
quit of Arizona and the alkali-grass of the plains 
help to hold in place the shifting soils of the 
great thirst-lands. Several species of mud-bind- 
ing grasses give solidity to the shores of the 
great lakes and render the banks of the Missis- 
sippi and its tributaries more permanent than they 
would otherwise be. 
The public services of such grasses as these have 
been acknowledged in high places. During the 
