Aspects of plant life; with special reference to the British floraPraeger, R. Lloyd (Robert Lloyd)
Science
Aspects of plant life; with special reference to the British flora
Praeger, R. Lloyd (Robert Lloyd)
Plants -- Great Britain
The land plants of the salt-marsh, as well as the aquatic species,
furnish interesting examples of overlap with the sea flora, but a brief
reference must suffice. The Glasswort (_Salicornia_), for instance, has
furnished itself with a very complete equipment for the difficult
conditions of salt-marsh life (see pp. 17, 18), and grows far out on the
mud-flats in green colonies, often below the upper limit of the
Bladder-wrack or _Fucus_, the common brown Seaweed of our shores. The
Glasswort has discarded leaves, its stems have become thick and
succulent, and its flowers, reduced to the minutest and simplest
dimensions, are almost buried in the fleshy branches. Thus armed, it
braves the salt-desert of the mud-flats, and repeated submersion by the
tides leaves it uninjured. Under the peculiar conditions of its life, it
relies neither on insects nor wind nor water for pollination, the
flowers being self-pollinated. A more surprising commingling is that
which is illustrated by A. D. Cotton in his report on the Seaweeds of
the Clare Island district (_Proc. Royal Irish Academy_, vol. xxxi.,
1912), where, on peaty soil a little above mean high-tide level, the Sea
Pink is shown forming a sward with a peculiar dwarf form of _Fucus_ (_F.
vesiculosus_, var. _muscoides_) and a few other salt-marsh Seed Plants,
such as _Schlerochloa_ (_Glyceria_), _Glaux_, _Salicornia_. The Sea Pink
is highly evolved florally, and differs widely from the Saltwort in its
abundant production of leaves and showy flowers, the absence of any
conspicuous xerophile characters, and the fact that it is not confined
to the coasts, being often a member of the alpine flora of our higher
hills. In its association with _Fucus_ it may be claimed that it is the
latter which is “out of water,” as it never produces fruit, increasing
solely by means of vegetative growth. At the same time, so closely does
it press its partner in the struggle for room, that the Sea Pink fails
to form its usual robust clumps, its stem being mostly unbranched and
its stature dwarfed.
Viewing generally the migration of the Seed Plants from land to water,
we see that the fresh waters of the world, untenanted by other large
plants, have been fully colonized, generally a long time ago, and by
plants of rather early types. But as regards the sea, the luxuriant
Algal vegetation which is in possession of our shores has no reason to
tremble for its supremacy. Beautifully adapted for their life, whether
in sheltered bays or on stormy rocks, the Seaweeds show no sign of
relinquishing the domain that has been theirs since the earliest rocks
which still display traces of organic life were laid down in Cambrian
seas.
INDEX
Agriculture, 135
Alien plants, 143
Alpine plants, 190
Animal-eating plants, 77
Animals and plants, 75
and seed-dispersal, 69
dependence on plants, 155
Arctic deserts, 19
plants, 196
Bog plants, 41
British flora, 167
Isles, vegetation, 25, 30
Chlorophyll, 180
Cultivated plants, 145
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