158 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



trees, near the northern part of their range, do not 

 bear fruit with any regularity. In fact they may 

 be entirely barren for a series of years, or at most 

 produce but sparingly. Simarouba glauca, one 

 of the quassia trees, grows to a large size in the 

 northern part of our area, but I have never seen 

 it bloom or seed. That it does sometimes do so, 

 even as far north as Fort Lauderdale, is certain, for 

 in the hammocks young trees are abundant. 

 Pisonia obtusata seldom fruits, while Pithecolobium 

 guadelupense and the fiddlewood (Citharexylum) 

 often fail for one or more seasons. After a shorter 

 or longer period of barrenness there may come 

 such an abundant crop of seeds that the ground 

 under the trees is fairly covered with them. The 

 reason for this variability of production is easily 

 explained. The winter climate of the northern 

 part of our area is so cool that some of these ten- 

 derer trees seldom develop flowers or fruit. A 

 hard frost may occur during the blooming or set- 

 ting period but the tree itself may not be greatly 

 injured; hence its barrenness except when the sea- 

 son is favorable. Insects or drought sometimes des- 

 troy a crop. Again it is possible that some years 

 these trees overbear and thus so exhaust the soil it 



