
_ SIOE 
716 THE RELATION OF PLANTS TO TIDE-LEVELS 
present. It is only on the eastern half of the Spit that we find a nearly pure 
band of Sueda or Salicornia succeeding the S. glabra (plates v and xiv). 
In the middle of the band of S. patens there are occasional more thinly 
covered areas where, in addition to the few dozens of Limonium or algal felts 
already mentioned, there may be scattered tufts, or now and then (as at 7.5 feet, 
950 west) a patch several feet in diameter of Distichlis. Aside from these 
plants intruders are rare, the only others being isolated tufts of Spartina 
glabra or a few scattered plants of Sueda or Sahcornia europea. 

2880N! 
8ft.level 

Tft.level 
Fig. 2.—Zonation of South Beach of Sand Spit, Cold Spring Harbor, 590 to 600 East 
by 2,850 to 2,905 North, August, 1909. By H. S. Conarp. 
Solid lines mark tide-levels; wavy lines mark boundaries of belts; dotted lines sub- 
divide the belts. 
I. Spartina glabra, 5 feet tall, in bloom at northern (shoreward) margin. Soil wet 
and muddy. 
Boundary of Iand II: A strip about 1 foot wide, with occasional plants of Salicornia 
europea and Sueda maritima of tall stature, and Spartina glabra of normal 
size. Soil a wet sandy gravel. 
Ila. Sueda maritima dominant, with Salicornia europea frequent and Spartina 
glabra occasional. There are patches of bare sandy gravel. 
IIs. Almost pure dense growth of Salicornia europwa and S. ambigua. Occasional 
plants of Sueda maritima, Limonium carolinianum, Spartina glabra, and 
Spartina patens. 
III. Densely gregarious patches of Spartina patens and Distichlis spicata. Occa- 
sional plants of Salicornia ambigua and Limonium carolinianum. Soil a 
gravelly sand with humus. 
Boundary of III and IV. Spartina patens ends abruptly. Distichlis spicata invades 
gravel by straight rhizomes. A strip about 1 foot wide of Atriplex arenaria 
and short and unhealthy Sucda maritima. Soil is gravel. 
TV. Nearly bare sandy gravel. Very sparse scattering of Atriplex arenaria and 
Sueda maritima. 
V. All fine sand with a few pebbles. A. Sueda maritima and Atriplex arenaria fre- 
quent; 3 plants of Salicornia europea. B. Mostly bare sand; 1 Salsola kali, 
1 Sueda maritima, 2 or 3 Atriplex arenaria. 
VI. Sand. A few plants of Cakile edentula and Solidago sempervirens. 
VII. Sand. Solidago sempervirens, Cakile edentula, Asparagus officinalis. Ammo- 
phila arenaria dominant. 
Belts I and IV are continuous for a long distance. Between them the components 
of belts II and III may be distributed in almost any order. 
The upper third of the belt of S. patens is rather more thinly covered with 
the grass. It has few felts of alga or plants of Limoniwm, and no Distichlis 

2300 N 
Oft.fevel 
or Salicornia. It does contain a few plants of Sueda, of Atriplex arenaria, — 
and A. patula. Only at the extreme upper edge do we begin to encounter 
wanderers from the upper levels of the beach. The commonest of these are 
Ammophila, Panicum sp., Solidago sempervirens, and Cakile edentula. Their 
frequency in the Spartina patens belt is indicated on Professor Conard’s map 
of the cross-section of the Spit (plate xiv). 
