266 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



is a strictly dryland tree. The small fruited cala- 

 bash (Crescentw cucurbitana) is quite common in 

 fresh and brackish swamps also in the high ham- 

 mocks. In the more open spots, saw grass and a 

 Kosteletzkya, which, in spite of its atrocious name 

 has handsome pink flowers, are often found and 

 sometimes patches of saw palmetto occur. Here 

 in the rich, damp muck beyond the reach of forest 

 fires it is a sprawler often reaching tree-like propor- 

 tions. Two or three bulbous plants (Crinum and 

 Hymenocallis) brighten the littoral swamps with 

 their handsome white flowers and the two giant 

 ferns (Acrostichum sp.) are intermingled with two 

 lesser ones, the royal fern and a Blechnum. The 

 royal fern is perhaps the most widely distributed 

 plant of Florida, being, according to Small, cos- 

 mopolitan in its distribution with the exception 

 only of the boreal regions. 



A large shrub is often seen, the button bush 

 (Cephalanthus) with opposite leaves and globular 

 heads of white flowers. It is also a widespread 

 plant, being found from Canada to California 

 and south to Texas and Lower Florida. For some 

 unknown reason it becomes a large tree in Arkan- 

 sas, just as the mangrove attains a great size on 



