oct.' — dec. 1856.] Band-binding Plants of the Mad. Beach. 85 



VI. Notulcs Botanicce No. I. On the Sand-binding Plants of 

 the Madras Beach. By Hugh Cleghorn, m. d. 



Having lately been requested by the Military Board to examine 

 the condition of the South Beach, between the Saluting Battery 

 and Saint Thome, with a view to consolidate the drifting sand 

 thrown up near Colonel Cotton's groynes, I endeavoured to estimate 

 the comparative value of the different species of maritime plants in 

 preventing the encroachments of the sea on the land, and in fixing 

 the loose soil along the shore. All that seems worthy of mention 

 has been condensed in the following short notice of these useful 

 plants, which originally appeared in the Journal of the Agricultural 

 and Horticultural Society of India, vol. IX. part II. 



The wide-spreading roots and under-ground stems of the sand- 

 binding plants extend themselves in quest of. food, and thus be- 

 come interwoven together, so as to sustain the soil in a sort of 

 basket-work, and consolidate the sands thrown up by the waves of 

 the ocean. If it were not for the subterranean stems of these sea- 

 side plants, which can vegetate amidst dry and drifting sand, the 

 banks which man heaps up as a barrier against the sea would be 

 blown away by the first hurricane. In Holland, the great sea- 

 dyke preventing inundation, owes its stability to these plants, 

 creeping Gramineee are employed, which are carefully protected 

 under the instruction of Government. Along the shore of Great 

 Britain, as in Lincoln, Suffolk, &c, the quantity of dry land has 

 been much increased by the propagation of the Bent star or Sand 

 Carex [Carex arenaria) and Lyme grass (Elymus arenarius). 



Let us cast a glance at the localities under consideration. On 

 this low coast, the wind which blows alternately over the sea and 

 from the land, but more continuously from the sea, propels land- 

 wards the sand, which collects in a succession of parallel ridges — 

 these gradually advance, and year by year fill up any hollow de- 

 clivities, or gain on the vegetable soil which is buried. The ac- 



