87 



persist, never attracting the attention of either the native "cracker" or the 

 northern migrant, both of whom stare alike at the botanist and his outfit 

 and doubtless wonder what he can want of "fearns." While the higher 

 flora of the tropics does not begin to appear until we reach the Manatee on 

 the west coast and Lake Worth on the Atlantic seaboard, these outliers of 

 the tropical flora extend from two to three degrees farther north, and rep- 

 resent the stragglers in the southern retreat that has marked the southern 

 extension of the peninsula from reef to key and from key to everglade. 



With all the information that could be gathered before starting we found 

 that the experience of the winter was necessary to learn the peculiarities 

 of the country and the best localities for exploration and especially how to 

 reach them after they were made known, for of all English speaking coun- 

 tries to learn how to reach a given point Florida is one of the worst in our 

 experience. To point out some of the best localities for future exploration 

 is partly the object of this paper. We would like also to protest against 

 the stupid method of sending out collectors to look simply for the higher 

 vegetation of a new region. Mosses and hepatics, algjv-, lichens and fungi 

 form just as much a part of the flora of a country as do the seed plants and 

 ferns and often furnish more valuable information regarding the true char- 

 acter of a region than can be gained from a study of the higher flora alone. 



Four distinct regions in Florida suggest themselves as likely to yield not 

 only more interesting tropical ferns than have yet been brought to light, 

 but a rich har.vest of new facts and species illustrating the nature and dis- 

 tribution of the tropical flora of the peninsula. This, however, will only 

 be possible when the critical botanist gets away from his dried herbarium 

 fragments and studies the flora face to face in its native fastnesses. Then 

 only can biological surveys prove a success. These regions are : 



1. The river region>i of West Florida. — The AVithlacoochee, especially from 

 Pemberton Ferry to the mouth, and including lakes Tsala Apopka and Pen- 

 asoffkee on either side, the ]\Ianatee, the Myakka and the Peace. Explor- 

 ations along these rivers can best be made in boats* and are likely to well 

 repay the cost, for while nearly all have been somewhat visited by bota- 

 nists, the country has been skimmed rather than explored. 



2. The interior lake region of South Florida. — This would involve a trip 

 from Kissimmee southward down the chain of lakes to Okeechobee and 



-The region of Lake Tsala Apopka and Lake Penasuffkee conld best be explored with 

 a horse and wagon, though the develoinnent of phosphate beds in Citrus coxinty is 

 likely to extend the public means of conveyance. Kailroads in Florida are too slow and 

 uncertain for much depeudeuce for short trips. 



