GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 79 



To save space and avoid boring readers not interested] in botanical 

 matters the plant lists are made rather short, omitting the rarer 

 species that one would not be likely to encounter every day, though 

 in a few cases the lists have been extended just far enough to take 

 in certain species that are especially characteristic. The trees listed 

 in each case are probably only about half the number of species rep- 

 resented in any region, but they make up at least nine-tenths of the 

 bulk of the forest. The shrubs and herbs are listed less completely, 

 partly because they are less important, and partly because some ot 

 them cannot be identified any day in the year as th^ trees can, and 

 the writer has not yet explored this area in the fall months, when 

 many herbs bloom that would hardly be noticed in the spring. 



For each plant there is given its technical name, its common name 

 (if any), and its usual habitat expressed in a word or two. The 

 technical names of evergreens are printed in bold- face type, and in 

 the case of semi-»vergreens only the specific name (second word) is 

 thus printed. There is some uncertainty as to just wdiich herbs 

 should be classed as evergreens, partly because some of them have 

 not been sufficiently observed in winter, and partly because it is im- 

 possible to draw a sharp line betw^een evergreens and non-ever- 

 greens. Some herbs wdiose leaves die dowai completely in wintei 

 farther north are partly evergreen in the area treated and entirely 

 so farther s-outh ; and man}^ that are not ordinarily thought of as 

 evergreen have rosettes of leaves close to the ground that live 

 through the greater part of the winter. 



The technical names of weeds and other plants that seem to grow 

 only in places that have been more or less disturbed by civilization 

 are enclosed in parentheses. Good examples of plants which are 

 ordinarily regarded as indigenous but behave rather suspiciously are 

 the two tall dog-fennels, Eiipatorium coiuposififoliinn and E. 

 capilUfoUnm. The former is sometimes seen in apparently un- 

 disturbed high pine land, but it is more characteristic of roadsides 

 or even dim trails made by log-carts, and al)unflant in old fields. 

 The latter is common in lake basin prairie'^, etc., but may not have 

 been there in prehistoric times, \\hen su^h places were not closely 

 pastured as thev are now.* Amon"- tlie i^rees the nersimmon, a sun- 

 posed native^ is far more frequent in 'mltivated or abandoned fields 

 than it is in swamps, which may be its natural habitat. 



*See 3d Ann. Rep., Fla. Geol. Surv.. p. 318. 



