6 TRANSACTIONS OF WAGNER 



VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 



Beach (Fairyland) opposite Miami, Punta Rassa at the mouth of the Caloosa- 

 hatchee River, and Sanibel Island, across San Carlos Bay on the west coast. 

 The vegetation of Anastasia Island, which is 283 kilometers (about 170 miles) 

 north of the northern limits of South Florida is described by way of comparison. 



The description that follows is based on notes made in the field, upon 

 the published maps of the coast and upon the collection of plants made by 

 the writer, marked by an asterisk, and by other botanists whose collections 

 are found in the herbaria of the University of Pennsylvania and the New 

 York Botanical Garden. 



Beach Formation on Anastasia Island. The beach of Anastasia Island, 

 which is easily reached from St. Augustine by trolley, is locally called South 

 Beach and is much frequented as a bathing beach. The beach is very 

 wide and flat. The lower and middle beaches are devoid of vegetation. The 

 middle beach, during my visit on December 25, 1910, was marked by aeolian 

 sand ripples, which gave a billowed appearance to the surface. The sorting 

 action of the wind was remarkably shown in that the heavier grains of sand 

 formed the crest and the lighter grains the trough, showing that the winds 

 were just sufficiently strong to lift the smaller grains and not strong enough 

 to destroy the rippled surface.f 



The upper beach was also rippled and was characterized by the long 

 creeping stems of *Ipomcea pes-caprae (L.) Sweet, with open capsules out 

 of which the large hairy seeds were falling to the sand beneath. Straggling 

 bushes of *Croton punctatus Jacq. (=Croton maritimus Walt.) were noted. 

 The sea rocket, *Cakile edentula (Bigel.) Hook., was also common on the beach. 



Beach Formation of Ormond Beach. The lower and middle beaches at 

 Ormond form a level surface of sand which, on account of their unusual width, 

 are used for automobile races. They are entirely destitute of flowering plants. 

 The upper beach is terraced and is partly covered with *Uniola paniculata 

 L., associated with Cakile edentula (Bigel.) Hook., *Ipomrea pes-capras (L.) 

 Sweet, and clumps of *Croton punctatus Jacq. Houstonia rotundifolia Michx. 

 is a perennial, prostrate, creeping herb growing in the dunes and between the 

 seaside-oats. Here also is seen *Chamaecrista brachiata Pollard, a tough- 

 stemmed freely-branching plant, Solidago stricta Ait., and a depressed shrub, 

 Bumelia angustifolia Nutt, with persistent leathery leaves shining above, 



t Cf. Olsson-Seffer, P.: "The Genesis and Development of Sand Formations on Marine 

 Coasts." Augustana Library Publications, No. 7, 1910, p. 18. 



