86 /AT LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



land. Thrinax wendlandiana, another fine palm, 

 supposed until recently to belong only to Cuba, 

 grows in the cape region, along the south shore 

 of the State, and also on the keys. Wild cinnamon 

 (Canella winteriana) , saffron plum (Bumelia angus- 

 tifolia), wild dilly (Mimusops emarginata), and a 

 number of other trees and plants belonging to the 

 keys are found here, immigrants over the old 

 mainland route to Metacumbe. 



What remains of the cape hammock is not lofty 

 but it is exceedingly dense and filled as full of 

 thorny growth as is any other hammock in the State. 

 Of this thorny growth the chief plant is a sprawling 

 Cereus which I have abused elsewhere but it is 

 sufficiently villainous to call for more condem- 

 nation. It is Cereus pentagonus. I cannot con- 

 ceive how it would be possible to devise a more 

 devilish plant. It starts in life by growing erect, 

 but tiring of that it falls over and rests on other 

 vegetation, or perhaps slides off and fastens itself 

 to the ground from which it may spring up a 

 second time. Not infrequently it almost fills all 

 the vacant space in the forest, thrusting its long, 

 lithe stems through the thickest growth and 

 appearing in the most unexpected places. Its 



