BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 103 



Swamp Wliite Oak raised their spreading tops fully a hundred feet in the air. The 

 land, covered by these stately inonarehs, is quite rolling, composed of a mixed 

 and ferlile soil of (day, sand and vegetable mold. Penetrating these deep forests, with 

 compass, very few herbaceous plants were seen, but an abundance of woody under- 

 growth of various entangling vines and shrubs of wliich S///ii/)/oros tinrtni'id, ]., 'Her. 

 was tlie mqst interesting and a new acquisition. 



(lainsville is a favorite resort for the invalid, prol)ably in part due to the attractions 

 of ils 1 iiral scenes, dry atmosphere and moderate charges of living. A Brooklyuian 

 who had recovered his health here, and in conse([uence enjoyed excellent spirits, be- 

 came a good friend and companion in my daily rambles. We engaged upon 

 a days trip through a varied country to the iVlachua or Sink, a large lake 

 with a subteri-auean sti-eam to the ocean. The l)otany, however, at our i)lace of ap- 

 l)roach was disappointing, for we had been preceded — the lowing herd had cropped close 

 Ihe sloping banks, and the long snouted swine had subsoiled the bottom flats. I thought 

 of Wm. Bartram who appeared here a hundred years ago ^1774], and stood upon the 

 banks of this same "Great Sink," so minutely and graphically described in his travels, 

 the "extensive Alachua savanna' as 'a level green plain, above fifteen miles over and 

 lifty miles in circumference,' with the abundance of game 'disturbed, in its quiet re. 

 treat, only through the invasion of these Elysian tields by tiie painted and fearless 

 Seminole." Our Irij), however, to these historic grounds of the once great tribe of 

 Alachuans, the Ancient Floridians, .was not wholly fruitless; for, on the way we in 

 creased our list witli the common Pfelea /rifoliufa, L., Crativgus parvifolm. Ait., and 

 I'ruiniK ninhclliifii. Ell., I'lirriii iidii ii rlxiri-u iii, Marshall, Ilc.v Cas.nnr, h., Starhys Flori- 

 (Idita, Shuttl., Condlorliizd (iihuitorhizd, Nutt, two feet high, Aspidtuin jxdcns, Swz., and 

 Rinnt'lid li/rioidcs, Gaert., var. irrlut.aUi, Gray, with indications of good plants obtained 

 on a subsequent visit. 



In this country one can often walk for hours through a comparative sameness of 

 giowtli and then sutldenly and unexpectedly enter a changed and interesting vegetation. 

 'I'liere seems no certain guide in the character or situation of the land to mark localities 

 of certain plants like in the Nortn, where the fertile i)eat bogs and marl beds, the cold 

 sphagnous swamps and dccj) hemlock forests, and the exposed mountain ridges and 

 Alpine peaks arc good indices. Rut in tlie detection of local species here one depends 

 apparently on mere luck. 



On tlie morning of the IDth there api)eared the tirst and only frost of the season, and 

 in conseqiu'uce the banana leaves assumed a bronze tint, the early vegetables a scalded 

 appearance with drooping foliage, and the floral display of the forest a generally melan- 

 cholic hue, thus iiraclicnlly ending field work foi' a time, and T made my departure 

 southward. 



In the close of June on my return North, 1 made a sojourn here for a few days. 

 And ix'hold wbat a change! The variety and luxuriance of the vegetation had covered 

 many of my former landmarks, and the place appeared not the same. With the limited 

 time aiul good prosjiccts 1 set diligently to work and added good specimens of 

 (Ucnintix ri'tiriiliifd, W;\\\., t'occulKs ('aiudiiiKx DO., PnUiiidla leptOKtachijs, Shuttl., 

 K I'iimrriiA liiiiri'tdiitd, Torf., Tcp}ir<ixia hinpiduhi, Pursh., ^■Ksr/ii/ziiniiciie fiiftpidn, Willd., 

 and n'xrididii, Mich.v., /,<>niiii frtrapltijlla, Mi(di\., Ji/ii/nc/iosiK f<iiiieiit<)t<a^ T. & Gr. var., 

 crcrtii T. ^ (xr,, lAi(hri(jia iimitdii. \y;i\t. , Me/idhria jwiididn, T., Speniiacore iuvo/iirni/a, 

 Pursh., 7'rtni(/o/ii)t/iir(i /lel/aiif/ioldcx, T., Vrrlii'iui Oar(diiii(ii/ii, Mx., Axdepms ciHeira , 

 Walt., Eriinj<iiiiiiii loiKjifidiiiiii, Nutt, and /luiii'/ifosinii, Mx., Enpliorhiu cordifolia. Ell., 

 Sr/itftiordii/tni. (/riicills, (ivay, ftowtiVH and fruit., Eimhrisfi/lift Warei, Torr, Giirex Elli 

 idfii, Schw. and Torr., Pn/i/niin IF/^/^/v", Ell., AftiiHimcrix iiitmiicdid, Chapm,. Boi'rJina- 

 cid crcrtii, I,, and ITidx-narin repeiiH, Nutt. All in tine state lor collection and with 

 three exceptions the only locality observinl. Di!. A. P. Garber. 



