384 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



they would exterminate all cultivated plants. 

 Then a plant native in the Northern Alleghanies 

 began to creep in along the roads, pastures, and 

 fields, in fact everywhere; a plant that has proven 

 to be almost as much a boon to the people of the 

 Eastern United States as corn or wheat. It is 

 the Kentucky blue grass (Poa prcetensis), rich, 

 green, and nutritious. It at once drove out the 

 weeds and has ever since covered the land with a 

 beautiful green carpet. It seems probable that a 

 similar process is taking place in Lower Florida 

 to-day. A handsome grass from South Africa, the 

 Natal grass, with pale green leaves and stems, has 

 been introduced and has escaped cultivation. It 

 was grown for its beauty, the hairy flowers being 

 a rich rose color. In places where it has become 

 established it is driving out our pestiferous weeds 

 and taking full possession. When one looks 

 across a field of this Tricholana rosea towards the 

 morning or evening sun a thrilling sight is pre- 

 sented, a sheet of the loveliest variegated rose 

 imaginable. It is relished by stock, makes good 

 hay, and may be easily killed by the plow. 



There are a number of animals in Lower Florida 

 which have developed cunning tricks or ingenious 



