269 



orchid partly supported on it. (Sec illustrations.) Neither can 

 be indigenous there, because in pre-historic times the spot must 

 have been covered w^ith the hardwood forests that characterize 

 that part of the state.* The whole vegetation of the meadow 

 is of a type not uncommon in the Piedmont region of Georgia 

 and other clayey regions farther north, but almost unknown in 

 Florida, where sand is the prevailing soil component. The 

 following are the characteristic plants of this place, in approxi- 

 mate order of abundance. 



Shrubs 

 Cephalanthus occidentalis 



Herbs 

 Boehmeria cylindrica 

 Sagittaria latifolia 

 Polygonum hydropiperoides 

 Piaropus crassipes 

 Panicum gibbum 

 Juncus effusus 

 Habenaria repens 

 Cyperus flavescens 

 Cyperus strigosus 

 Mikania scandens 

 Hypericum mutilum 

 Aeschynomene Virginica 

 Hydrocotyle umbellata 

 Fuirena breviseta 

 Fimbristylis autumnalis 

 Echinochloa Crus-Galli 



Herbs 

 Jussiaea leptocarpa 

 Eupatorium pcrfoliatum 

 Apios tuberosa 

 Conoclinium coelcstinum 

 Monniera Caroliniana 

 Bidens trichosperma? 

 Erianthus sp. 

 Lycopus sp. 

 Diodia Virginiana 

 Kyllinga pumila 

 Cyperus Haspan 

 Bidens laevis? 

 Limnobium Spongia 

 Oldenlandia glomerata 

 Andropogon glomeratus 

 Ludwigiantha arcuata 

 Anastrophus paspaloides 

 Xyris sp. 

 Rhexia Mariana 



The wettest spots, where the two plants in question grow, 

 probably produce vegetation at the rate of three or four tons 

 (dry) per acre per year, or considerably faster than a typical 

 sandy bog. Most of the species bloom in late summer, like the 

 Piaropus and Habenaria. Some of them are evidenth^ indi- 

 genous in that region and some are not, but there seems to be no 

 way of getting at the history of the vegetation now.f The 

 Habenaria was described from Georgia nearly loo years ago, but 



* See Ann. Rep. Fla. Geol. Surv. 6: 271-272. 1914. 



t The development of wet meadows in the eastern United States and other 

 temperate regions presents some unsolved problems. Some botanists seem to 

 believe that such meadows are the result of clearing long ago and pasturing or 

 haying ever since, but the fact that in many such places the plants are all or nearly 



