Introduction 1 1 



PLANT HABITATS 



In 1926 we prepared a paper on The Plant Habitats of Okefinokee Swamp 

 (MSS) and therein expanded the habitats of the swamp. We will content 

 ourselves in this discussion with a short general discussion from that paper. 



The swamp's geographic subdivisions as given by residents and by the 

 maps fall into four major groups: cypress bays (such as Billy Island Bay, 

 Floyd Island Bay, Double-0-Bay, Jackson Bay); prairies (such as Floyd's 

 Island Prairie, Grand Prairie, Chase Prairie, Honey Island Prairie); islands 

 ("piney islands" such as Billy, Honey, Floyd's and Chesser Islands and 

 "hammocks" such as Craven, Mixon, Hickory, Cedar); and water-courses, 

 (a) wooded (such as Minne Lake, Minne Lake Run, Billy Lake, River Nar- 

 rows, Suwannee River), (b) artificial (such as Suwannee Canal), (c) open 

 channels through the prairies connecting lakes or water courses. These are 

 usually made by the residents and often follow the alligator trails. In March 

 1915 (Phila. Acad. Sci. 1915, pp. 144, 145), Messrs. Bishop and Wright used 

 these four divisions in classifying the snakes according to habitat. 



In 192 1 we used thirteen or fourteen groups for characterizing distribution 

 of the animal forms within the swamp, namely pine barrens, island edges, 

 hammocks, grassy fields, cultivated fields, around and in buildings, sand 

 scrub (Floyd's) cypress bays, cypress ponds, cypress heads, prairies, sphagnum 

 bogs, and watercourses. 



In 1922 being located in Chesser Island near the swamps edge and roaming 

 on the mainland as we did the list reached 23 or 24 separate habitats or 

 headings on our plant sheets. Categories such as these were used in gathering 

 our notes together: St. Mary's river; sand bluff, St. Mary's river; sand scrub; 

 sand ridges or hills; dry pine barrens; Camp Corneha; cleared and cultivated 

 fields; around buildings, roadsides and railroads; village streets; Spanish 

 Creek moist woods; hammocks; moist pine barrens; edge of islands; cypress 

 ponds; river swamps, branch swamps; bays; strands; edge of wooded lakes; 

 borders of prairie lakes. 



The major natural plant ecological communities or associations of the 

 swamp proper might roughly be divided into six groups : 



1 . "Prairies" (including center of cypress pond, also open lakes). 



2 . "Bays" (including edge of cypress ponds, "heads in prairies," 



borders of wooded water courses such as Minne Lake). 



3 . Water courses (These merge with "prairies," open-centered cypress 

 pond). 



4. Hammocks (including cultivated fields, buildings, most "old fields"). 



5 . Barrens (including pine barrens, moist and dry, sand scrub, sand 

 hills or ridges, etc.) 



6. "Strand" (including sphagnum bogs, fern bogs, fern prairie, sphag- 



num circle around "heads" and around cypress bases, etc.) 



The "prairies" and cypress "bays" are peculiarly distinctive of the swamp. 

 On the mainland, the open-centered cypress pond suggests these two ele- 

 ments. The water courses within the swamp can hardly be thought of as 



