STORM BEACH 105 
These are: Agropyron repens, of which occasional tufts are found among, or 
just above, the Spartina patens; Cakile, which may be represented by 2 or 3 
plants in some summers (e. g., at 1,000 north in 1911) ; finally, there is Solidago 
sempervirens, which is the only storm-beach plant that is at all abundant here. 
In 1912 there were only 4 or 5 small clumps of Solidago between 800 north and 
960 north, but from the latter point to 1,150 north there were 150 clumps 
between the 8-foot and 9-foot tide-levels. These grew chiefly on the escarpment 
marking the boundary between the gravel and the moist, grassy field that lies 
just shoreward of it. 
The very wide vertical range of Scirpus americanus is well shown on this 
shore. From the dense patches of this species already mentioned as occurring 
near the 8-foot level, at 1,000 and 1,040 north (p. 84), strips of thickly scattered 
culms push upward, along the banks of the two neighboring streamlets, to the 
10.5 or 11 foot levels. (See plate x11.) 
There are no species present above 8.25 feet level on this part of this shore, 
aside from Cakile, Scirpus, and Solidago, to suggest its proximity to the sea. 
South of the mill much of this shore, between the 8 and 10 foot levels, is 
saturated by fresh water, either running over or seeping through the soil. 
During the earlier years of our work this water came in part from the mill-race 
just above, but in 1910 the water of the race was diverted, and the amount of 
water on the upper levels of this shore has thus been somewhat lessened. The 
effect of this change on the plants of the shore will probably prove an interesting 
one to observe. ‘The two projecting points of the shore, near 200 north and 300 
north, are somewhat drier and the vegetation differs somewhat from that of the 
rest of this part of the supra-littoral beach, as we shall see. 
An examination of the plant covering of the storm-beach southward from the 
mill to 500 south shows that, aside from upland species like Rhus toxicodendron, 
Solidago sempervirens is the only denizen of the supra-littoral beach of the 
Spit that grows above the 8-foot level in this southeast corner of the harbor. 
Ammophila, Cakile, Huphorbia, Lathyrus, and Salsola have not been recorded 
here during the seven years of our study. There are, however, three other 
coastal species, absent from the Spit but found on the supra-littoral marsh, 
that occur along with Solidago between the 8-foot and 9-foot levels of this shore, 
namely, Baccharis halumifolia, Hibiscus moscheutos, and Iva oraria. 
The Solidago mentioned is found generally and rather abundantly distrib- 
uted from 500 north to 200 south. For example, there were 50 plants of it 
between 300 and 500 north in 1912, some of them being below the 8-foot level. 
I¢ is still more abundant near 200 north and near 200 south by 1,200 east and 
far less abundant in most of the intervening region, where the shore is more 
nearly saturated with fresh water, and more shaded (see plate xiII). 
Of the three marsh species on this part of the storm-beach, Baccharts is least 
frequent, being represented by one small bush near 110 south by 1,220 east at 
8.3 feet. Of Hibiscus moscheutos there is one clump near 175 north at the 
8.2-foot level and half a dozen more along the fresh-water ditch from 150 to 
400 south by 1,180 east. Jvais rather frequent. For example, one bush at 210 
north, 6 at 180 north and a clump of 50 four-year-old plants near 165 south by 
1,200 east at the 8.5-foot level. In 1912 there was a group of 30 seedlings, from 
2 to 6 dm. high, near 110 to 130 south by 1,150 east. 
