VOL. XV, PP. 195-199 OCTOBER 10, 1902 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



GENERAL NOTES. 



The occurrence of certain tropical plants in Mississippi. 



The flora of the coastal region of Mississippi is made more interesting 

 by the naturalization of some tropical shrubs, introduced for ornamental 

 purposes. These are of three species: Lagerstrcemia indica Linn., the 

 Crepe Myrtle; Zizyphus vulgaris Lam., the Jujube Tree, and Vitex 

 agnus-castus Linn., the Chaste-Tree. 



The first of these species is still very common in cultivation; in the 

 wild state it occurs as a shrub of rather bushy habit, from four to ten 

 feet in height. The pink flowers are borne very profusely all summer, 

 and through September. 



Zizyplms vulgaris is cultivated to some extent as a lawn shrub, but is 

 also spontaneous. Owing to the slight edibility of the fruit, and the large 

 size of the seed, the plants are infrequently found outside of the limits 

 of the yard where it is grown. The usual habit is bushy, and the aver 

 age height about twelve feet, but in some cases the plant is a tree of 

 eight inches in diameter, and twenty feet in height. The drupes are 

 somewhat eaten by birds Mimus polyglottos and Melanerpes erythroce- 

 phalus. The fruit ripens in August. 



Vitex agnus-castus is now little cultivated, it is fairly common on 

 the beach, growing in the sand, often below extreme high-water mark. 

 It is usually a shrub less than ten feet high, but in one case, at Bay St. 

 Louis, reaches a height of about twenty feet. The flowers appear in 

 May. Andrew Allison, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. 



39 BIOL. Soc. WASH. VOL. XV, 1902. (195) 



