1G4 BULLETIN OF THE 



seasons; they are nlso interspersed with cypress swamps of varying 

 extent. Such swamps usually bonier the St. John's on its upper 

 course, sometimes extending back from the river for several miles. 

 Other portions of the low grounds support ;i mixed foresl of live-oak, 

 water-oak, elm, bitter-nut hickory, maple, laurel, sweet gum, etc., with 

 a more or less dense undergrowth, Mich forests forming the so-called 

 " hummocks." Some portions of these forests are swampy ; others are 

 dry, and slightly elevated. The saw and dwarf palmettos (Subal serru- 

 lata R. & S. and S. Adansonii Guerns.) frequently render the former 

 difficult to penetrate, and extensive groves of the cabbage palm (Cha- 

 mcerops palmetto Michx. ; Sabal palmetto R. & S.) here and there oc- 

 cupy the banks of the streams. At intervals in the pine barrens exten- 

 sive thickets of low trees and thickly growing shrubs are met with, 

 which are exceedingly difficult to enter, and are appropriately termed 

 " scrubs." Each of these kinds of country, as would be naturally ex- 

 pected, forms the favorite haunt of certain species of birds and mam- 

 mals, the grassy or open pineries being frequented by some that 

 rarely v i-i t the swamps and hummocks, and the hitler by others that 

 rarely visit the open pineries. The extensive savannas which occur 

 along the upper portion of the St. John's River and elsewhere form the 

 favorite haunts of numerous wading birds ; and the numerous lakes are 

 congenial to the swimming bird-. 



East Florida hence differs but little in its general character from the 

 lower portions of Georgia and the low land- ol the coast ol South Carolina. 

 The tree-, especially of the hummock- and swampy forests, arc usually 

 covered with the pendant Tillandsia vsnoides, or " Spanish moss," and 

 the abundance of epiphytic orchids and other plant.-, as well as the palms, 

 clearly indicates the subtropical and peculiar character of the climate. 



From the great extent in latitude of the Florida peninsula — from 

 2.3° to 3F, or about four hundred miles — considerable differences 

 necessarily exist between the fauna and flora of the northern and south- 

 ern portions. Although the change in these features from the north 

 southward i- more or less gradual, it seems to be appreciably greater 

 near Lake George than elsewhere. At this point so well-marked a 

 change occurs in the vegetation as to attract the attention ol unscien- 

 tific observers, and a corresponding change in the fauna is readily 

 traced. Above bake George the general aspect of both the flora and 

 fauna is decidedly more southern than it is below the lake. The 



