STORM BEACH 101 
In discussing the distribution of those plants of the storm beach on the Spit 
which are not found at all below the limits of this belt, we may deal first with 
the 8 species there found which are confined to sea-beaches or to the similar 
shores of large inland lakes. Arranged approximately according to their 
importance, beginning with the most abundant, and indicating the usual upper 
and lower limits of distribution, these species are the following: Ammophila 
arenarva, 8.5 or 9 to 11.5 feet ; Cakile edentula, 8.5 to 11.5 feet ; Solidago semper- 
virens, 8 to 11.5 feet; Huphorbia polygonifolia, 8.5 to 10 feet; Lathyrus mariti- 
mus, 10 to 11 feet; Xanthiwm echinatum, 9.5 or 10 to 11.5 feet; Salsola kali, 
8.5 or 9 to 11 feet; Aster tenutfolius, 9 to 11 feet. 
Ammophila, as has been stated, is the dominant plant over most of the 3 
acres of sandy surface of the Spit above 8 or 9 feet (plate virB). It is a peren- 
nial grass with stiff tightly-rolling, partially evergreen leaves. These are 12 or 
18 inches high and arise from a buried rhizome that runs extensively (15 to 20 
internodes) through the sand. In April 1911, the old leaves of this grass were 
green for several inches above the soil, and it was the only evergreen form seen 
on the Spit, unless we except Salicormia ambigua, some of the shoots of which 
were green for 2 or 3 inches above the sand. The stand of Ammophila is rather 
even and not dense, varying from 50 to 200 plants per square meter (plate xiv). 
The horizontal rhizomes of Ammophila run along at a depth of from 5 to 15 cm. 
below the surface, but the roots penetrate several or many decimeters deeper 
and thus reach a soil with a pretty constant supply of water, instead of having to 
endure the very dry conditions often existing at the surface of the sand on which 
they grow. The lowest surface level reached by Ammophila is 8 feet, at which 
height it is found on the south shore of the Spit, behind the wide border of 
Spartina glabra, at 600 to 700 east (plates v and x111). The soil here is of very 
fine sand. The lower limit on the less-protected north shore of the Spit is at 9, 
9.5, or 10 feet. Even here it is at a level where its rhizomes are often washed out 
by the waves during storms. 
Cakile edentula is a broad-leafed, fleshy, partially spreading annual about 
a foot in height. It is scattered over all the more sandy portions of the Storm 
Beach, between 8.5 and 11.5 feet, and is most abundant near its lower limit. It 
forms the most important constituent of a distinct green line of scattered vege- 
tation running along the north shore of the Spit just below the Ammophzla, 1. e., 
at the 8.5-foot level, e. g., between 400 east and 400 west. This line of plants is 
made up of annuals, which are evidently from seeds that are caught in the row 
of flood-trash that settles at this level during high tides. The Cakile may, in 
some seasons, occur somewhat less abundantly, between the 8.5 and 9-foot levels, 
on portions of the south side of the Spit. Thus, in the summer of 1910, a 
rather compact group of 40 plants occupied the low spot 2,515 north by 790 
to 800 west, at the 8.75-foot level. Plants of this species occurring on the 
higher levels of the Spit are usually quite scattered, but may, under favorable 
conditions, be grouped in dozens even there, as, e. g., at 2,800 north by 100 east 
between 11 and 11.5 feet. It seems evident from the distribution of Cakile here 
noted that this plant will not withstand very prolonged submergence and that 
it requires a well-drained soil. 
Solidago sempervirens, the third in abundance of the plants of the Supra- 
littoral Beach, or Storm Beach of the Spit, is scattered over it in dozens or 
scores, between the 8 and 11.5 foot levels. It is a lanceolate-leaved, partially 
