202 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The pineapple is peculiar in belonging to a family of air-plants 

 {BromeliacecE), and taking very little nourishment from the soil. 



Our southernmost conifer, Finns Caribcea, seems to have no 

 distinctive common name in general use. (It has been called 

 " Cuban pine " by several writers on forestry in recent years, but 

 that name would be more appropriate for Finns Cubensis, a 

 species confined to eastern Cuba.) It is abundant in South 

 Florida, and may extend along the coast to Georgia and 

 Mississippi, though this point has not yet been determined 

 beyond question. It is said to occur also in the Bahamas, 

 western Cuba, the Isle of Pines, and British Honduras. It grows 

 in pure stands, like the long-leaf; and south of the Caloosahatchee 

 River it is almost the only pine, and more abundant than all 

 other trees combined. It is confined to low regions within 

 ICG feet of sea-level, and the saw-palmetto is usually the most 

 conspicuous feature of the undergrowth (in Florida, but not in 

 the tropics, for this palmetto does not grow farther south). 



It grows mostly in sandy soil north of Miami, and on limestone 

 rock south of there, where sand is scarce. Although it occupies 

 the driest soils within its range (quite unlike its near relative 

 F. Elliottii), the country where it grows is so low that there 

 is usually water within 2 or 3 feet of the surface. The 

 climate is subtropical, with no snow and little frost, and the 

 summers are much wetter than the winters. 



This species withstands fire about as well as F. palustris and 

 F. Elliottii do, or perhaps even better, and is exposed to it as 

 often. 



Its wood is similar to that of the long-leaf pine, except that it 

 is more resinous and brittle, and therefore is not used much for 

 lumber except locally where there is no other pine within easy 

 reach. The gum does not flow readily, and consequently very 

 little turpentine is obtained from this species; but it is not 

 unlikely that the increasing scarcity of long-leaf pine may before 

 long bring about the invention of some method for utilising 

 F. Caribcea as a profitable source of naval stores. The range of 

 this species lies almost entirely south of the cotton crop, but the 

 soil or rock in which it grows is being planted extensively with 

 grape-fruit, mangoes, avocadoes, and other tropical fruits. 



