i86 
COAST FLORA 
Polygonaceae, Liliaceae, Juncaceae, &c. Examples are the 
prairies of the northern United States and Canada, the 
northern steppes of Russia and Siberia, meadows, moors, 
pastures, etc. The plants occupying them are in general 
mesophytic, but the grass-lands are usually drier than the 
forest-lands. 
The coasts exhibit many interesting plant-associations, 
according to the nature of the soil, whether rock, sand, 
or mud. The following remarks refer specially to Britain 
and Western Europe. Upon rocks we find such plants as 
Crithmum maritimum , Silene maritima , &c. The flora of 
a sandy coast varies according to the distance from the sea. 
On the sandy shore itself, where the soil is saturated with 
salt water at a small depth, but is liable to become very 
hot and dry at the surface, occur such plants as Cakile 
maritima , Sal sola kali , species of Atriplex, Arenaria 
peploides , Calystegia soldanella , Crambe, Mertensia, Glaucin?n 
flavum , Eryngium maritimum , &c. ; these are mostly 
annuals, or perennials with creeping stems, or long tap- 
roots by which they are firmly anchored to the soil. All 
are more or less fleshy, and show other xerophytic characters 
(sunk stomata, thick cuticle, wax, &c.) as well. A little 
further back from the sea the region of sand-dunes begins ; 
those close to the shore are always shifting under the action 
of the wind, and only those plants occur upon them that 
besides being xerophytes are able to come up again if 
buried by the sand (the formation of dunes is chiefly due 
to the growth of these plants) and which possess good 
anchorage. Such are the grasses Ammophila arundinacea 
and Eiymus arenaria , with long rhizomes and often with 
leaves which roll up in dry air. Carex arenaria , Hippophae 
rhamnoides and other plants may also occur here. The 
growth of these plants gradually binds the dunes together, 
and further inland they form a sufficiently stable soil for the 
growth of such plants as Carex arenaria , species of Festuca, 
Ononis, Lotus corniculatus , Galium verum , Sedum acre, 
Antennaria dioica , Thymus, and frequently Erica and 
Calluna. These also show more or less marked xerophily ; 
the shore forms of Lotus and other inland species are 
fleshy, and a few other succulents occur, but most of these 
plants reduce transpiration in other ways. Where the 
