1925] Insects and Plants of a Strip of New Jersey Coast 235 
this region in spring and its lines of sprouts from the underlying 
roots broke the force of the winter winds and prevented the 
sand from drifting to any great extent. Totally different in 
appearance from the grass, another plant, the seaside golden-rod 
( Solidago sempervirens) was second in importance. All during 
the summer months, the large tufts of fleshy leaves were very 
conspicuous and later the heavy sprays of j^ellow blossoms were 
quite showy. Scattered all through the vegetation created by 
the previous plants we found the little sand hugging sea spurge. 
On the bay side of the dunes there were occasional patches of 
beach pea ( Lathryrus maritimus). This plant constituted a 
prominent element with its tangled stems, bright flowers and 
noisy pods. 
On the area between the first line of dunes and the margin 
of the dune formation there were a number of important groups. 
In the first one large masses of bayberry ( Myrica carolinensis ) 
occurred at regular intervals with occasional plants almost at 
the foot of the first line dunes. Another important shrub mixed 
with the bayberry was beach plum {Prunus maritima). Its 
dense masses of white flowers were very showy in the spring. 
The fruiting propensities of the plant however, were variable, 
some were loaded with plums and others bore but few. Little 
of the fruit ripened as people were well acquainted with its 
value in making jam and jelly. 
Other larger areas were inhabited extensively by beach 
heather ( Hudsonia tomentosa) . Dull and inconspicuous through- 
out most of the year, it stood out in strong contrast to the sand 
when it was covered with yellow flowers in the spring. In this 
group there were also frequent plants of beach pin weed ( Leohea 
maritima) and patches of sea coast joint weed ( Polygonella ar- 
ticulata:, the latter being much more numerous than cons- 
picuous. The cactus ( Opuntia opuntia ) occurred here, sometimes 
forming plants three feet across. In this band was found the 
only fungus of noticeable importance in the whole area. This 
was the earth star ( Geaster sp.) which appeared late in the 
summer in sheltered sandy places where other vegetation was 
scanty or lacking. In the deep sand only the spongy, spore 
