432 



NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



tough plants, although the locusts 

 {Spharagemon collare ivyomingi, Scirti- 

 tica marmorata picta, Psinidia feneslra- 

 lis, and Melanoplus keeleri keeleri) are 

 characteristic. The great southern 

 white butterfly {Pieris monuste) is 

 characteristic, especially in the south. 



4. High pine woods. This is usually 

 rolling, well drained country with 

 numerous small lakes and ponds between 

 the hills. The soil is sandy, usually 

 underlaid with clay (sometimes lime- 

 stone) at no great depth. The typical 

 growth is an extremely open forest of 

 long leaved pine with scattered clumps 

 of saw palmetto. Where not over 

 grazed there is a sparse covering of 

 short grasses, herbs, and a few low 

 bushes such as the "oak-runner" (Quer- 

 cus pumila). There would doubtless be 

 more shrubs were fires not so frequent. 

 On the higher, drier ridges there is much 

 "scrub oak" including the turkey oak 

 {Q. catesbaei). The lupin {Lupinus sp.) 

 makes large conspicuous green mats 

 with spikes of blue flowers. Ground 

 fires spread rapidly through this region 

 although they do not generate as much 

 heat as in the flatwoods, and a large part 

 is burned over annually, largely pur- 

 posely by owners of cattle to provide 

 fresh green grass in the spring. In this 

 region the greatest development of 

 citrus has taken place and as a result 

 much of it is cleared. Where underlaid 

 by limestone, particularly in the north 

 central part, the dwarf chinquapin 

 {Castanea nana) is often common, and 

 scattering cedar trees. On the lower 

 East Coast much saw palmetto occurs 

 in the high pine land and the cycad 

 "Coontie" {Zamia floridana) is abun- 

 dant and characteristic. 



Two burrowing animals, the "gopher" 

 and the "salamander," are characteristic 

 of this region. Both animals are sadly 

 misnamed. The "gopher" {Gopherus 

 polyphemus) is a burrowing turtle, and 

 the "salamander" {Geomys floridanus) 

 a ground rodent, similar to the pocket- 

 gopher of the West. 



Snakes characteristic of these open 



woods are crown-snake (Tantilla coro- 

 nata), the coach whip {Coluber flag ellum 

 flagellum), the black-snake, the chicken- 

 snake, the corn-snake, the common hog- 

 nosed snake {Heterodon contortrix), the 

 king-snake and the common garter- 

 snake {Thamnophis s. sirtalis). 



Characteristic birds are the bald 

 eagle, the Florida red-tailed hawk, the 

 Florida red-shouldered hawk, the Florida 

 screech owl, the sparrow hawk, the Flor- 

 ida bob-white, the loggerhead shrike, 

 and the Florida wren. 



Among the characteristic orthoptera 

 are the locusts {Amblytropidia occiden- 

 talism Melanoplus rotundipennis, and 

 M. puer); the katydids (Arethaea phalan- 

 gium, Orchelimum minor, and Conoceph- 

 alus saltans), and the cricket {Falcicula 

 hebardi). 



Characteristic butterflies which breed 

 here are Papilio philenor on the pipe 

 vine {Aristolochia) , the Ajax (P. mar- 

 cellus), on Asimina, lole {Nathalis iole), 

 on Cassia, the cloudless sulphur {Catop- 

 silia eubule) on Cassia, Nicippe {Eureme 

 nicippe) on Cassia, the little sulphur 

 (E. lisa) and E. delia, on Cassia, the 

 Gulf fritillary {Dione vanillae) on 

 Passiflora, the Buckeye {Junonia 

 coenia), Danaus berenice on Asclepias 

 tuberosum, Eumaeus atala on Zamia, 

 extremely abundant in the south, 

 Atlides halesus, common about blossoms 

 of Chinquapin and Eupatorium sero- 

 tinum — larva on oaks, Strymon melinus, 

 Hemiargus catalina on Pithecolobium 

 in the south, Goniurus proteus and Epar- 

 gyreus tityrus on legumes, the larvae 

 rolling up the edges of the leaves, 

 Staphylus hayhustii on Alternanihera, 

 and Hylephila phylaeus on grasses. 



5. Hammocks {Hardwood forests), a. 

 Low hammocks: In the low hammocks, 

 which occupy the low wet lands between 

 the high hammocks and the cypress 

 swamps, the dominant trees are sour 

 gums {Tupelo), ash {Fraxinus spp.) 

 red maple {Acer rubrum), hackberry 

 {Celtis mississippiensis) , and an under- 

 growth of blackberries (Rubus spp)., 

 Andromeda, Virginia willow {Ilea vir- 



