138 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY I3TH ANNUAL REPORT 



in size from lakes covering several square miles (most of these near 

 the lake region) to small wet prairies and cypress ponds. Streams 

 are few and sluggish, and the rivers have extremely shallow val- 

 leys. 



Soils. There are no soil surveys of this region yet, except a nar- 

 row fringe at the extreme eastern edge, but the soils are very sim- 

 ilar in texture to those of the western division, and would presum- 

 ably be classed mostly as fine sand. Chemically the average soil 

 is probably less fertile than in the western division, especially in 

 phosphorus (if the vegetation is a safe guide), but the Kissimmee 

 River prairies are said to be much better than the flatwoods, and 

 to produce some good crops without fertilizer. 



Vegetation. The principal vegetation types are palmetto flat- 

 woods, prairies of several kinds, cypress ponds, low hammocks, 

 swamps, fresh marshes, and a few patches of scrub. The prairies 

 are several miles wide along the two largest rivers, and those along 

 the Kissimmee (which the writer has not yet had opportunity to ex- 

 plore) are said to have an abundant and varied native fauna and to 

 be great cattle ranges, thus resembling some of the western plains 

 Other and probably different prairies border the lakes near Kis- 

 simmee (fig. 26), and there are numerous small wet prairies in 

 shallow depressions. The cypress ponds usually have narrow prai- 

 rie-like margins, as stated in a preceding paragraph. 



The commonest plants seem to be as follo^vs : 



COMMONEST PLANTS OF EASTERN DIVISION OF FLATWOODS. 



Pinus palustris 



Taxodium imbricarium 

 Pinus Caribaea 

 Sabal Palmetto 

 Pinus clausa 

 Pinus serotina 

 Acer rubrum 

 Taxodium distichum 

 Pinus Elliottii 

 Gordonia Iiasianthus 

 Nyssa biflora 

 Quercus Virginiana 

 Liquidambar Styraciflua 

 Magrnolia grandiflora 



MagrnoUa g-lanca 



Quercus Catesbaei 

 Quercus greminata 

 Quercus cinerea 

 Persea pubescens 



Fraxinus Caroliniana 

 Ilex Cassine 

 Hicoria glabra? 

 Salix longipes? 



TIMBER TREES 



Long'-leaf pine 

 (Pond) cypress 

 Slash pine 

 Cabbage palmetto 

 Spruce pine 

 Black pine 

 Red maple 

 Cypress 

 Slash pine 



Black gum 

 Live oak 

 Sweet gum 

 Magnolia 



SMALL TREES. 



Bay 



B],ack-jack oak 

 Live oak 

 Turkey oak 

 Red bay 

 Ash 



(Cassena) 

 Hickory 

 Willow 



Flatwoods 



Cypress ponds 



Flatwoods 



Low hammocks 



Scrub 



Damp flatwoods 



Swamps 



Swamps "■ 



Bays, etc. 



Bays 



Swamps and ponds 



Hammocks 



Low hammocks 



Hammocks 



Swamps and bays 

 Drier spots 

 Drier spots 

 Drier spots 

 Swamps and bays 

 Swamps 

 Swamps 



Sandy hammocks 

 Along streams 



