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a shallow notch at the tip. The tiny whitish blossoms are in a 

 long slender upright spike to which the bees are strongly at- 

 tracted and a low continuous humming is always associated 

 with this tret- when in flower. This is the Sea-Grape, CoccoloHs 

 uvifera, found in the tropical and semi-tropical regions of the 

 New World. 



Another tree which is almost universal in southern and 

 central Florida is the Cabbage Palm, Sabal Palmetto. The name 

 is given because the large terminal bud may be used as a salad. 

 It is rather tasteless and is little used. The tree is of the fan palm 

 type and grows to a height of twenty to thirty feet and one to 

 one and one-half feet in diameter. 



Very striking are some of the morning glory family. The 

 Goat's-foot Vine, Ipomoea Pes-Caprae, because of its very long 

 thick stem which runs for twenty feet or more over the sand 

 almost to the high tide mark and its very thick wide leaves, 

 notched at the end, which have a superficial likeness to a goat's 

 foot. The flowers are purple and as large as the cultivated morn- 

 ing-glory. Climbing over the shrubbery and running over the 

 sand, not only along the shores but in many other parts of the 

 region, is the large Purple Morning-glory, Pharbitis purpurea. 

 Most striking of all, because of its blossoms, is the Moonfiower, 

 Calonyction acideatum, with its very large salver-shaped flowers. 

 The tubes are about six inches long expanded at the top to a 

 width of four to five inches. It is white and opens only at night. 

 This fact may account for its name, Moonfiower. 



The Dune Sunflower, Helianthus debilis, with its yellow 

 blossoms one and one half to two inches broad, is common, but, 

 unlike our forms of this genus, it is procumbent and forms a 

 fairly good cover to keep the sand from drifting. Scattered 

 among the sunflowers one often sees small white flowers on 

 very prickly stems, with broad lobed leaves protected in the 

 same way. If we step on them with bare feet on our way to the 

 bathing beach we realize that the name, Tread-softly, is well 

 applied. The scientific name of this plant is Bivonea stimulosa. 

 The effect is like that of our own nettles only more so. A plant 

 only six inches high may have a spindle-shaped root a foot long 

 going straight down into the ground. It is said that the natives 

 formerly ate it for the stimulating effect it had on them. Prob- 

 ably the species name, stimulosa, was applied for this reason. 



