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VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 



*Chrysobalanus pellocarpus G. F. W. Mey, Erythrina arborea (Chapm.) Small, 

 Callicarpa americana L., *Myrica cerifera L., and the vines, Rhus radicans L., 

 *Vitis Munsoniana Simpson, and Smilax sp. The center of this hammock 

 is depressed and filled with water, forming what is called locally a 'gator hole. 



The larger hammock is situated some distance north of Detroit at 

 the edge of a transverse prairie and is about a hectare in extent. Here 

 are large live-oak trees, *Quercus virginiana L., loaded down with such ferns as 

 *Polypodium polypodioides (L.) A. S. Hitchcock, various species of bird's-nest- 

 like Tillandsias (T. fasciculata Sw., T. tenuifolia L.) and such epiphytic orchids 

 as Epidendrum cochleatum L. Associated with the oaks are the doctor-gum, 

 *Rhus toxiferum L., with smooth bark, gumbo-limbo, Bursera simaruba (L.) 

 Sarg., *Morinda roioc L., and smaller trees, such as Ilex Krugiana Loes. ; 

 Picramnia pentandra Sw., Psychotria undata Jacq., Citharexylum villosum 

 Jacq., sometimes seven meters tall, Guettarda scabra Vent., together with the 

 shrubs Callicarpa americana L., marlberry, Icacorea paniculata (Nutt.) Sudw. 

 (= Ardisia Pickeringii T. & G.), *Myrica (Morella) cerifera L. The large trees 

 are draped with lianes, such as Virginia-creeper, Ampelopsis quinque- 

 folia (L.) Michx., grapevine, *Vitis Munsoniana Simpson, poison-ivy, Rhus 

 radicans L. The ground vegetation consists of the perennial herb, Cassia 

 ligustrina L., the fern, Ornithopteris adiantifolia (L.) Bernh., with tillandsias 

 that have broken off with tree limbs and that have become established in the 

 rich dark soil, through which here and there the sharp projections of the lime- 

 stone rock are to be seen. The twisted limbs of the large hammock trees 

 loaded with epiphytes, the dense tangled growth of the trees, shrubs, and lianes 

 with a rich black soil, are in sharp contrast to the tall, straight, limbless pines, 

 which together form an open, sunlit forest with an abundant ground vegetation 

 growing in a drier, more porous, and rockier soil, and hence, more xerophytic. 

 The papaw, Carica papaya L., as an exotic, enters the clearings made in the 

 edge of the hammocks. It appears in the form with slender, green stem and 

 relatively small fruit. 



The large hammock south of the Miami River, known as Brickell Ham- 

 mock, is one of the largest and most typic in the whole state of Florida, for in 

 it we find many rare and interesting tropic trees. It is about 3.2 kilometers 

 (two miles) long and 1.6 kilometers (a mile) wide, extending down to the shores 

 of Bay Biscayne. Through the center of it runs in a north-south direction 

 the carriage road from Miami to Cocoanut Grove, 8 kilometers (five miles) 



