FREE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE 



VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 



photographs taken near Miami are given in a paper by Ernst A. Bessey 

 published in the igth Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden (pages 

 25-33, plates 1-9), and of a similar Mexican species by Trelease in the i6th 

 Annual Report (pages 161-165, plates 39-45). The pond-apple, Annona glabra 

 L., which becomes 14 meters tall, is present in Brickell Hammock. It plays a 

 relatively unimportant rdle, but is associated with the Jamaica-dogwood, 

 Icthyomethia piscipula (L.) A. Hitchc., bitterwood, Simarouba glauca DC., 

 and crabwood, Gymnanthes lucida Sw. The gumbo-limbo, Bursera sima- 

 ruba (L.) Rose, is a striking tree of the forest attaining a height of 20 

 meters and with a red-brown, smooth and shining bark, which peels off 

 freely in papery layers like those of the yellow birch, hence another name for 

 the tree, West Indian birch. The mahogany, Swietenia mahagoni Jacq., 

 grows to be 25 meters tall in South Florida, The doctor gum, Metopium 

 toxiferum (L.) Krug & Urb., is an element of the hammock formation. The 

 bark is thin, splitting when old into large scales, red-brown outside and 

 orange within. Its sap is poisonous to the skin. The introduced soapberry, 

 Sapindus saponaria L., grows to be a tree 10 meters tall. The black-iron- 

 wood, Krugiodendron ferreum (Vahl) Urb., is an evergreen tree which 

 sometimes grows to a height of 10 meters with a gray-ridged bark and 

 green, velvety twigs. The mastic, Sideroxylon fcetidissimum Jacq., is an 

 evergreen tree that becomes 25 meters tall. Finally, the list of dominant 

 trees, as far as the material studied will allow, includes the ironwood, Eugenia 

 confusa DC. (= E. Garberi Sarg.), the guava, Psidium guajava Raddi, satin- 

 leaf, Chrysophyllum olivaeforme L., bustic Dipholis salicifolia (L.) A. DC., 

 and black calabash, Enallagma (Crescentia) latifolia (Mill.) Small. 



The vines, or lianes, of the hammock formation include Smilax Beyrichii 

 Kunth, wild vanilla, Vanilla Eggersii Rolfe, Gouania lupuloides (L.) Urb. 

 ( = G. domingensis L.), the bullace-grape, Muscadinia (Vitis) Munsoniana 

 (Simps.) Small, with juicy, edible berries, the Virginia-creeper, Ampelopsis 

 quinquefolia (L.) Planch., and Morinda roioc L. A reclining cactus, Acan- 

 thocereus pentagonus (L.) Britt. & Rose, occurs along the bluff facing Bay 

 Biscayne and perhaps should be included among the vines. A diffusely 

 branching vine of a dark-green color with narrow leaf blades and greenish 

 flowers is Amphistelma scoparia (Nutt.) Small ( = Metastelma scoparium 

 (Nutt.) Vail). As a member of the family Asclepiadaceae, it has a copious, 

 milky juice, and the writer suggests that on account of its rapid growth 



