TRANSACTIONS OF WAGNER 



VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 



where the rush-grass, Juncus Roemerianus Scheele, of a deep, brownish-green 

 color, is dominant, associated with Cyperus sp., the tall fern, Acrostichum 

 aureum L., sea-lavender, Limonium sp., Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene and a 

 climbing apocynaceous plant, Rhabdadenia biflora (Jacq.) Muell. Arg. The 

 margin of the salt marsh shows the presence of Sabal palmetto (Walt.) R. & S., 

 Yucca aloifolia L., buttonwood, Conocarpus erecta L., which constitute the 

 tree vegetation conspicuous across the open marsh as a boundary line. The 

 shrubby associates of the trees that break the sky line are Myrica (Morella) 

 cerifera L., Baccharis glomeruliflora Pers. with broad leaves, and B. angusti- 

 folia Michx., with narrow leaves, while Borrichia frutescens (L.) DC. lines 

 the space between the fringing thicket and the open salt marsh. Instrumen- 

 tal readings on this salt marsh on a bright sunny, but sultry day on June 

 4, 1912 gave at n A. M. the following data: 



Humidity of air 72 % 



Temperature of air 96 F. = 35 C. 



A thunderstorm which came at 12 M. caused the temperature to drop to 78 F. 

 in twenty minutes. 



The salt marsh facies, although perhaps controlled by fresh water, occurs 

 along Hancock Creek, which empties into the Caloosahatchee River on the 

 north bank of that river, opposite Ft. Myers. The reason for including this 

 marsh vegetation with that of salt marshes is because of the dominancy of the 

 coarse rush-grass, Juncus Roemerianus Scheele, which in pure association edges 

 the stream, while in other places it is fronted by the tall tropic fern, Acrostichum 

 aureum L. This type of marsh extends back to the sinuous line of the pine 

 forest fronted by the palmetto in an almost unbroken strip. It is characteristic 

 for the palmetto hammocks to stand in front of the pineland and on the salt 

 marsh side. There are single palmettos in the salt marsh here and detached 

 clumps of them nearer the pines. Typha angustifolia L. forms associations 

 touching the bank of the creek, as also the elder, Sambucus canadensis L., as 

 a synantherocarpic plant on June 17, 1912. The red-mangrove, Rhizophora 

 mangle L., is a border tree, as also the custard-apple, Annona glabra L. As- 

 cending the creek, this vegetation gives way to pineland and hammock land. 



SAND-PINE FORMATION (ROSEMARY SCRUB) 

 On the east coast of Florida are rolling sand plains and sand hills with 

 broad swales filled with shallow lakes, wet prairies, cypress swamps and flat 



