96 
Statice Limonium on the Banks of the Humber. 
into the normal fringe of saltmarsh ; the plants at this station 
were now of normal size, the largest leaf seen measuring 
1 7 cm. in length and 4-4 cm. in breadth. 
In August, 1920, I visited Saltend again, and found the 
locality completely changed. Up to 1911 the adjacent com- 
mon had been grazed, and the animals wandered over the bank 
on to the outstray. About 1915 (as far as I can ascertain), the 
common was made the site of the Hull oil fuel installations, 
and when the building of the tanks began, grazing ceased. 
In 1920, the former close-shaven flat was covered with tangled 
grass, mixed with Aster Tripolium, Armeria maritima , Plantago 
maritime, and Triglochin maritimum. Most of the Statice had 
been obliterated, but the plants which had survived were 
normal, with leaves up to 25 cm. long, and 5-5 cm. broad. 
Thus the natural changes had thrown light on two points. 
The plants in locality ‘ B- ’ had become normal by their trans- 
ference through slips further from the base of the bank ; their 
former large size was probably due to the fact that they grew 
up among the long grass on the bank. Again, in locality 
‘A/ the cessation of grazing had converted that area into 
high-level saltmarsh, and the Statice had become normal ; 
its former nanism was due to the grazing, though indirectly, 
as the plants were not eaten. It appears to have been merely 
the effect of the shortness of the surrounding herbage. 
That Statice, on these high-level flats, will grow up and 
flower, if surrounded by moderately tall herbage, but remain 
dwarf and flowerless if among short herbage, is illustrated by 
the two sets of plants on the cliff between Easington and 
Kilnsea. The plants of station G,’ at Easington, form an 
exception, as they are dwarf, but flower : the conditions of 
submersion of these tufts are not, as far as I could discover, 
markedly different from those of the plants in station F. 
On the dwarf forms of Statice Limonium the leaf is usually 
margined by a conspicuous hyaline border. This consists of 
the extended cuticle of the upper and lower epidermis. On 
the larger leaves, it is still present, but is not so conspicuous, 
as its breadth does not increase in proportion to the size of 
the leaf. 
The variation in the tip of the leaf has already been alluded 
to. Small leaves are acute, with a terminal tip. On the 
larger leaves the prolongation of the mid-rib forms an ap- 
pendage or flagellum, arising from the back of the leaf, a 
short distance below the apex. The apex of the leaf in such 
cases may be hooded, or incised and channelled. In some 
specimens collected at Burnham-on-Crouch, the appendage was 
buttressed, i.e., united to the leaf for a short distance by a 
wedge of tissue. 
( lc be continued ). 
Naturalist 
