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VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 



shore line of Northwest Cape, Middle Cape, and East Cape (Cape Sable) are 

 sandy. The south coast of Florida touching the Bay of Florida is fringed with 

 mangrove swamps as far as Biscayne Bay. The description of the vegeta- 

 tion of Ocean Beach (Fairyland) on the east coast and of the beaches at Punta 

 Rassa and Sanibel Island on the west coast may be taken as samples of the 

 character of the vegetation of the sandy beaches on the east and west coasts 

 of the southern end of the Florida peninsula respectively. The same may be 

 said of the strand thicket vegetation of both coasts now to be described in 

 detail. 



Dune Formation. The crest of the low frontal dunes on Anastasia Island 

 is characterized by clumps of Yucca aloifolia I/, mixed with densely massed 

 evergreen bushes of Ilex vomitoria Ait. and other shrubs. The seaside morn- 

 ing-glory, Ipomcea pes-caprae, is a dune crest plant, as is also Croton puncta- 

 tus Jacq., the prickly-ash, Xanthoxylum clava-Herculis L., the saw-palmetto, 

 Serenoa serrulata (Michx.) Hook, and Solidago sempervirens. The hollows 

 of the dense complex are occupied by masses of Yucca aloifolia L., Ilex vom- 

 itoria Ait., waxberry, Myrica cerifera L. [Cerothamnus ceriferus (L.) Small]. 

 Isolated, partially prostrate, trees of the red-cedar, Juniperus (Sabina) vir- 

 giniana L., are found. The seaside-oats, Uniola paniculata L., is common as a 

 binder of the sands. The greenbriar clambers over the clumps of waxberry 

 and Spanish-bayonets. The prickly-pear cactus, Opuntia austrina, Small, 

 rises a foot above the surface of the dunes. A small rounded dune, as a 

 relic of the dune complex, was left in a flat, featureless plain of sand be- 

 cause its top was protected by the Spanish-bayonet, Yucca aloifolia L., 

 Myrica cerifera L., elderberry, Sambucus canadensis L., and Baccharis halimi- 

 folia L. 



The dune complex at Ormond is covered with a thicket, but in front the 

 frontal dune is highly elevated and cut by the wind into stretches of dunes, 

 broken by depressions. Here grow dense masses of saw-palmetto, Serenoa 

 serrulata (Michx.) Hook, (glaucous form), between which is the ever-present 

 grass, Uniola paniculata L. Low, wind-swept trees of live oak, Quercus vir- 

 giniana Mill, red-bay, Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng., waxberry, Myrica cerifera 

 L., saffron-plum, Bumelia angustifolia Nutt, show the effect of strong winds 

 on tree and shrub forms. In the spaces between the trees were found nearly a 

 dozen specimens of a fleshy fungus, Clathrus sp., with a vile odor, suggesting 

 its local names, "dead man's fingers," "buzzard's nose." Solidago semper- 



