272 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



man's thigh and with openings between in which 

 one could thrust his arm. At times the outer 

 living parts spring clear from the often decayed 

 inner heart wood. These cavities then become 

 partly filled with mold from decaying wood and 

 leaves, and in them grows a strange cryptogamous 

 plant (Psilotum triquetrum) which is rather closely 

 related to the club mosses. It fastens its roots 

 firmly to the tree, sometimes penetrating the 

 bark and the half decaying wood and sends up its 

 slender, branching, rod-like stems which bear 

 scattered scales in place of leaves, and small, 

 berry-like, yellow fruits. The creeping Poly- 

 podium (P. polypodioides) often covers the great, 

 shaggy trunk, and Blechnum serrulatum as well as 

 the two sword ferns already referred to are found 

 with it. Occasionally several epiphytic orchids 

 and a Peperomia make their home on the bark 

 and altogether the buttonwoods become veritable 

 aerial gardens. 



As a result of being repeatedly overthrown these 

 great trunks are sometimes twisted fully twice 

 around and the brittle wood is so split up that 

 some of it is detached and lies scattered on the 

 ground, while the whole becomes so contorted 



