92 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



them within bounds, there are rows of devil's walking sticks, 

 always on guard just behind them. 



\'ines of various kinds trail over bushes and old logs,- or 

 swang frcim tree to tree: smilax, wild grape, trumpet-creeper, 

 woodbine, poison ivy, and the fragrant, yellow jessamine. We 

 find also witch-hazel, blueberry, and blackberry, red maple, 

 basswood, hickory, and flowering dogwood, nearly all of them 

 well known plants of northern forests. There are also several 

 of the southern oaks in this collection, and though the fruit 

 of these trees scattered over the ground, should be familiar 

 to evervone, the trees may be a puzzle at first. 



In January, great splashes of red are seen in all damp 

 woods, and swamps, when the red maples are in bloom, and 

 later, about the last of January, or the first of February, wlien 

 thev are in fruit. They are a much brighter red here than in 

 the north, and no other trees can ecjual them as landscape 

 painters. In the "fern garden" are cinnamon, and royal ferns, 

 the brake, the two chain ferns, and several less familiar south- 

 ern ferns. The most abundant species are the Florida crested 

 fern, and one that seems to lack a common name : Nephrodinmr 

 molle. 



Fronds of these two species often measure five feet in 

 length, tlie glcxssy, dark green fronds of the crested fern mak- 

 ing the greatest show of all. In more open spots the el)ony 

 spleenwort is common, the Boston fern on old logs, wliilc the 

 gray polypody decorates nearly all of the trees and stumps. 



This is onlv a small part of the show, but as most ot the 

 others are natives of the soutli. tlie}- arc not on the tamiliar 

 list. Tlie two common magnolias, and the sweet gum tree, are 

 abundant here, as they are in most other suitable .spots in the 

 south, and it is very easy to identify them. In the fields, one 

 may find golden-rods, and asters, of some kind, nearly every 

 month in the year. Then there are Lady's tresses, mullein,, 

 pokeweed, l)lue bag, and l)lne toad-flax, common both north 



