A transect of coastal vegetation was surveyed forits plant communities in the state of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil. Two main plant formations are found in this region. The ‘restinga’ is the coastal sand dune vegetation and the ‘tabuleiro’ is the adjacent savanna-like formation. The ordination of sample units and species of the transect showed that these plant formations cannot be considered as discrete communities but they are actually a vegetational continuum made up of species adapted to sandy soils but with varying distributional patterns according to the exposure to maritime influences. © 1993, Trustees of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. All rights reserved.