382 



ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 191*7. 



leatlierlike fronds, and Blechnimh serrulatum^ with much thinner 

 fronds which soon wilt when gathered. There is a beautiful Crinum, 

 with white spiderlike flowers, and thick, flesh}' seeds which have a 

 peculiar method of germinating (fig. 5) ; stately cat-tails, bladder- 

 wort with fine, dissected aquatic leaves, and many other characteristic 

 water plants, specimens of which have been deposited in the United 

 States National Herbarium. It is interesting to note the absence of 

 the water hyacinth and water lettuce which impede navigation in the 

 streams and lakes of northern Florida, 



MAIISH SHRUBS. 



Paradise Key is bord(^red by a growth of marsh-loving shrubs; 



among them, the amphibian willow; alligator apple (pi. 9) ; the wax 



myrtle, which yields v/ax from which 

 candles Yuay be made; the fragrant 

 swamp bay, with an aromatic fra- 

 grance like that of bay rum ; a mag- 

 nolia with white flowers and silver- 

 lined leaves ; cocoa plums with edible 

 fruit and a Baccharis (pi. 10), which 

 bears the pistillate flowers on one 

 bush and the fjtaminate flowers on 

 another. Not far from the park are 

 small islets covered with thickets of 

 mangroves with branching, stiltlike 

 roots; and button mangroves (pi. 11) 

 with nectar glands at the base of 

 the leaf blades ; and in several places 

 are small groves of cypress (pi. 12), 



smiilar to those of the Dismal Swamp, but not nearly so extensive. 



FOREST TREES AND SHRUBS. 



It will not be possible within the limits of this paper to enumerate 

 the forest trees, most of which are essentially tropical. The largest, 

 however, is the magnificent live oak {Querous virginiana) of our 

 Southern States (pi. 13), which sometimes spreads its moss-covered 

 branches over an area 200 feet in diameter. The gumbolimbo 

 {Elaphrium siTnaruba) gets its odd name from the Jamaica negroes, 

 a corruption of goma clemi, the Spanish name of an aromatic 

 balsam which exudes from its bark when wounded. In the Antilles it 

 is sometimes called West Indian birch, on account of its papery red 

 bark which peels off like that of certain birches; and in some parts 

 of Spanish America its common name is palo ^nulato, from the color 

 of its trunk. It bears transplanting remarkably well ; sometimes 

 large trees are taken up from hammocks and planted in private 

 grounds, where they at once establish themselves. The fruit (fig. 6) is 

 much relished by crows and other birds. 



Fig. 6. — Gumbolimbo^ Elaphrium 

 simaruba; fresh and dried fruit. 

 Half xat. size. 



