Hammocks and Everglades of Florida. 273 



are a species of Guettarda, fruiting at a height of 30 to 60 era. 

 in the former situation and forming a tree six or more meters 

 in height in the hammock, Icacorea paniculata, Tetrazygia 

 bicolor, and many others. The denser the growth, the more 

 humid the air and the moister the soil, so much more fullv do 

 these and other tyj^ical hammock plants reach their full develop- 

 ment. Soon epiphytes begin to appear, other typical hammock 

 plants come in and v\e have a typical hammock. This may 

 gradually spread, the nairow margin of shrubs forming condi- 

 tions in many respects similar to those in the first cluster of 

 shrubs or small trees in which the hammock took its origin. That 

 it is the slightly increased moisture and shade that favor the 

 origin of a hammock as well, as its spread seems borne out by 

 the fact that many hammocks have as the center from which they 

 spread, as their base of operations as it were, some naturally 

 moister spot, such as a depression in which water stands or lies 

 near the surface and occupied by some trees that love such 

 locations, e. g. Anona glabra, Magnolia glauca, Diospyros vir- 

 giniana, etc. Thus along the margin of a stream the border 

 of trees that occupy the moist banks furnishes the base from 

 which the hammock can spread into the surrounding dry pine 

 woods. It must be borne in mind, however, that the hammock 

 proper is that portion occupying the land \^on away from the 

 pine woods and not the moister belt of trees bordering the stream 

 from which the hammock got its start. The typical hammocks 

 are so dense that it is doubtful \\ hether they ever have freezing 

 temperature clear within them as far south as Miami. In the 

 pine woods, on the contrary, frosts are fairly frequent and tem- 

 peratures of -5 C. are not unknown. Thus it is that the ham- 

 mocks may contain within them species typical of the tropics, 

 e. g. Swietenia mahagoni, the mahogany, Carica papaya, the 

 papaya, Alvaradoa amorphoides, Sideroxylon mastichodendron, 

 etc., while the pine woods are far less tropical in their flora and 

 the Everglades actually contain many northern plants. 



The Everglades are much misunderstood. To those not 

 familiar with them the name probably conjures up a picture of 

 a dense, almost impenetrable swamp, with large trees, covered 

 with hanging "moss", slimy pools swarming with alligators 



