256 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



Along the west shore of the northern part of Bis- 

 cayne Bay these trees reach their greatest dimen- 

 sions, individuals sometimes attaining a diameter 

 of four feet and a height of a hundred. As a rule 

 these great trees stand at some distance apart but 

 their immense crowns intermingle. Formerly a 

 magnificent forest, chiefly mangroves, stood just 

 below the mouth of Little River and in it grew a 

 number of the largest sized and finest specimens. 

 Some of these were braced by air roots fully 

 eighteen inches in diameter that sprung from a 

 height of twenty-five feet above the ground, and 

 in other cases slender roots dropped from the 

 branches fully thirty-five feet above the soil. The 

 trunks were straight and smooth, usually without 

 branches below their stately crowns sixty to sev- 

 enty feet above. These trees easily ranked among 

 the most wonderful vegetable growths of the 

 State of Florida. They were sacrificed to human 

 avarice for the tannin in their bark and the 

 potential furniture in their close-grained, red wood. 

 To-day the whole forest is a desolate ruin. 



Although attempts are made to explain the 

 great diversity in the growth of the mangrove 

 none are convincing. 



