THE VEGETATION OF MONTAUK 19 



their way. All these grasses and Juncus Greenei, one of our only dry-land 

 rushes, are plants of wide distribution outside of Long Island. 



In the case of Polygala polygama, while it is of wide general distribution, 

 locally it seems to be confined to the coastal region of Long Island and 

 Staten Island. It is nowhere more common than at Montauk, where the 

 usually uncommon white-flowered form is certainly not rare. Its great 

 profusion among the grassland vegetation is perhaps due to its stiff wiry 

 stem and foliage, so that it appears to be peculiarly unpalatable to cattle. 

 Sericocarpus asteroides, the tallest of all these primary species on the 

 Downs, has also the broadest and most succulent leaves of all of them. So 

 many are basal, however, and lie practically flat on the ground that they 

 neither offer resistance to the wind, nor can they be nibbled by cattle. 

 Perhaps the salvation of this white-flowered composite is its tough stem, 

 only sparingly furnished with leaves, and its habit of nearly always growing 

 isolated, not making such attractive grazing as the grasses, which, while 

 they make no turf, are often found in dense clumps a foot or more in 

 diameter. This plant is otherwise known through the eastern part of the 

 United States. 



Much the same is true of the survival of Antennaria plantaginifolia, 

 with the additional fact of the soft white, almost velvety, covering of the 

 leaves. This not only retards transpiration in a region where this is very 

 rapid, but also protects the plant from cattle, who never seem to touch it. 

 The plant is common throughout eastern North America. 



While these eight species make up the mass of the herbaceous vegetation 

 on the Downs, they are, of course, associated with many other plants, 

 some of them common enough, others only scattered. These secondary 

 species of herbs, arranged in the order of their frequency, are as indicated 

 below : 



lonactis linariifolius 



Agrostis alba 



Whether native in the north, or naturalized from Europe, this 

 grass is at Montauk a relic of the great herds of cattle in the 

 past. A good illustration of an introduced plant thoroughly 

 mixed with the native vegetation. 



Chrysopsis falcata 



Crocanthemum canadense 



Crocanthemum majus 



Euthamia tenuifolia 



Lechea villosa 



Solidago nemoralis 



