SEED PLANTS OF UPPER LITTORAL BELT 87 
east side of the harbor at 320 north (about 10 clumps, in 1912), and at 400 to 
480 north whenever fresh water is absent. The densest group about the harbor 
was found on the pier at 950 north by 970 east, where there were 150 plants in 
1912. On the south side of the harbor this plant is usually distributed rather 
sparsely over most of the area of the Marsh. It grows here chiefly between the 
7-foot and 8.25-foot tide-levels, is most frequently associated with Spartina 
patens, and is oftenest found on the better-drained soil at the edges of tide-pools, 
streams, or ditches. Its general frequency is that indicated on the area mapped 
in plate vir. On the west side this species is sparsely but widely distributed 
along the whole natural shore (740 north, 1,200 to 1,410 north, 1,650 to 1,750 
north and 1,970 to 2,070 north). Usually it is found among Spartina patens, 
but it is sometimes mingled with Solidago sempervirens near the 8-foot level, 
and it is absent from soils saturated with fresh water. On the south side of the 
Spit, Atriplex patula has the same wide but sparse distribution that we have 
noted elsewhere. It is found scattered in the dense turfs of S. patens (800 to 
1,000 west), or close to the upper margin of S. glabra (840 east at 6.5 feet). 
The more usual range of this Atriplex is from 6.5 to 7.5 feet, but at 400 to 480 
north on the eastern shore it gets down below 6 feet, while on the well-drained 
shore at 320 north on the east side, it goes above 8 feet. On the west shore, near 
1,800 north, and on the north shore of the Spit, between 400 east and 400 west, 
it is often found at 8.5 feet. 
Iris versicolor, while really to be regarded as a denizen of the next higher belt, 
may form dense clumps of vigorous, abundantly fruiting plants in the upper 
littoral belt, on firm soil that is protected by neighboring springs and rivulets 
from saturation by salt water (plates 1vB and x11). Thus, on the west shore 
(1,350 north, 1,400 north) Jris gets down to 8 feet or just below, while on the 
east shore it grows in soil at 7.5 feet, or even, at one point, at 7 feet. In the 
latter locality (10 north by 1,192 east) the soil-water at this level, and the sap 
of the Jris roots growing in it, are not at all salt to the taste. The soil, however, 
is covered with salt water twice daily, except during two or three neap tides of 
each fortnight. Jris forms a very striking example of the way in which the 
shoots of some inland plants can withstand immersion in salt water, if only the 
soil-water be fresh. The general occurrence of this species about the harbor is 
indicated on plate x11 and will be discussed in speaking of the vegetation of the 
next higher belt. 
Linonium carolinianum is one of the most widely distributed species of this 
upper littoral belt in soils free from the influence of fresh water. ‘This has often 
been suggested above in speaking incidentally of its occurrence in stands of 
other species. It is a broad-leafed, thick-rooted perennial found on all four 
sides of the harbor. On the east side there is a bare sprinkling of it in the 
better-drained spots from 20 to 450 north and from 960 to 1,150 north, while 
between 800 and 900 north, at 7.75 to 8 feet, there were 30 plants in 1912. 
Finally, on the pier at 950 north, is found the densest and most extensive stand 
about the harbor. There are over 300 plants around the border of this wharf, 
and where densest there are 20 plants per square meter. 
On the Marsh, Limonium occurs chiefly along the northern border between 
6.5 and 7 feet, usually bordering tide-pools, tide-streams, and ditches (0 north 
by 880 east), and also on certain artificial, gravelly elevations (10 south by 
800 east). The total number of plants on the Marsh is not over 150 or 200, 
