1 8 BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN MEMOIRS 



noted but some account of their distribution and habits of growth may 

 throw Hght on their peculiarly effective place in the vegetation of these 

 rolling hills. 



The grasses Schizachyrium, Deschampsia, and Sorghastrum, mentioned 

 above, and Juncus Greenei, are all plants that grow in close, dense tufts, 



Figure 3. General view of the Downs at Montauk. The dark spots are mostly bay- 

 berry thickets {Myrica carolinensis). The dominant grass is Schizachyrium scoparium. 



or clumps, and do not tend to make a true turf, of which, because of this 

 habit, and the admixture of other species, there is practically none at 

 Montauk. In a region so grass-like in character, the predominance of 

 species that do not make real turf is somewhat curious. Perhaps of sig- 

 nificance is the presence of the lichen, Cladonia rangijerina, which often 

 carpets the Downs and through which all the species are apt to force 



