August S, iS88.] 



Garden and Forest. 



279 



as many goblets as 3^011 need. Fill these iiearl)^ full of 

 clean sand and enough water to fill the interstices nearly 

 to the upper surface of the sand. Then jnit in your best 

 selected plants, as shown in the illustration. The labels 

 are written on cards about 13^x2^ inches, inserted in 

 a split at the top of the holder, which is about eleven 

 inches long and less than one-quarter of an inch square. 

 These holders can be made of any wood that will split 

 straight. Our redwood answers well. 



Thus we have one species in each goblet with a number 

 of specimens convenient for examination. (See illustration.) 

 Do not crowd the plants, and keep the goblets clear of each 

 other. Many a fine display is spoiled by trying to show too 

 many things in a small space. Some taste is necessary in 

 arranging the goblets on the table as to height, color, etc. 



Here in California we < 



\> ' 





at all seasons have 

 enough wild plants in 

 flower for a nice show. 



In the wet sand in 

 these goblets the flowers 

 will keep several days 

 — some for two weeks 

 — such as the Calochor- 

 tus, Oenothera. Godetia, 

 Chlorogalum, Trifolium, 

 Aquilegia, etc. Some 

 of the grasses are beauti- 

 ful, and placed in goblets 

 as above, will throw out 

 their flowers in little tas- 

 sels, which remain for 

 several days unchanged. 



These wild flowers in 

 a flower-show contrast 

 beautifully with the cul- 

 tivated ones, and furnish 

 an excellent illustration 

 of the difference l^e- 

 tween the wild and the 

 cultivated. 



C. L. Anderson. 



Santa Cruz, Cal., July, jS88. 



[Collections of wild 

 flowers have been an in- 

 teresting feature for a number of years at the exhibitions of 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Societ}^ The flowers are 

 generally crowded together in bunches and placed in nar- 

 row vases of water. They soon wilt when treated in this 

 way ; and the collections lose much of the beauty and at- 

 tractiveness they would possess if more taste could be dis- 

 played in their arrangement and in grouping the different 

 varieties. Dr. Anderson's suggestion is one which might 

 be tried with advantage at Eastern flower shows. — Ed.] 



Wild Flowers for Exiiibition. 



A 



The Flora of the Florida Ke3's. 



BOTANICAL survej' of that imique portion of our coun- 

 try ]<no\vn as the Florida Keys confirms an opinion that 

 would naturally be formed after studying a map— namely, 

 that the flora of these islands is nearly, if not quite, identical 

 with that of the coast i;egion of the neighboring Antilles. 

 Among the very few species which botanists do not know to 

 grow elsewhere— though it is probable that they may be found 

 in more southern regions — is the newly discovered Pscudo- 

 phwnix Sargentii. This interesting Palm is confined to two of 

 the keys, namely, Elliott's and Long, which are over fiftv miles 

 distant from each other. On account of the small numlier of 

 these trees and the precarious conditions under which they 

 grow, they might have disappeared wholly from the world liut 

 for their timely discovery by Professor Sargent and the enter- 

 prise of Messrs. Reasoner Brothers, of Manatee, in obtaining 

 plants and seeds for cultivation. 



The renewed interest which this discovery has awakened in 

 a region which Jias long been famous among naturalists and 

 lovers of nautical adventure, seems to warrant a brief account 

 of some botanical observations on these islands made by me 



during several cruises since the year 18S0. A botanical sur- 

 vey of the Reef Keys reveals several marked characteristics, 

 of which the three following are most important : 



1st. The number of species is small as compared with simi- 

 lar areas elsewhere, the total number being about 230, which 

 is scarcely one-fourth of the number that is usually to be 

 found in a region of similar extent. 



2d. The proportion of woody plants (trees and shrubs) is 

 large, being one-third of the whole number, while in the State 

 of Florida as a whole the proportion of woody to herbaceous 

 species is as one to seven. 



3d. The species, as a rule, belong to tropical or sub-tropical 

 orders, or to orders which are most largely represented in 

 more southern latitudes. Thus we find five species of the 

 Myrtle family, which is not represented in other States, and 

 there are fourteen shrubs and trees of the Cinchona family, 

 while but one is found in other States. On the other hand, 

 there are no representatives whatever of those large and im- 

 portant orders, RanimculacecE, Caryophyllacea:, Saxifragaccce, 

 Onagracece, Umbelliferce, Pnlemoniaccce and LiUacece, and but 

 one each of the O-iiciferce, Rosacea and Amentacea:, each of 

 which orders has from 140 to 270 representatives in the United 

 States. 



These peculiarities are easily accounted for. In the first 

 place, these keys present no material differences of altitude 

 and latitude, and very little as regards soil, and differences in 

 those three respects are the leading factors in determining the 

 richness or poverty of the flora of any section. On these 

 islands there are no hills or mountains, no brooks or rivers, 

 no valleys or fresh water swamps, no clay, loam or siliceous 

 sand. The soil consists throughout of coralline and sede- 

 mentary lime-rock, calcareous sand and a little mould resulting 

 from the decay of vegetation. The rocky soil is permeated by 

 veins of brackish water, and neither salt nor lime is favoraljle 

 to great diversity of vegetation. 



There is lack of silica for grasses and sedges, and the condi- 

 tions do not favor that luxuriant growth of Ferns and Orchids 

 which might be expected in this latitude. On the mainland, 

 around the Everglades, there are forests more tropical in ap- 

 pearance than any on the kevs. As regards natural vegetation, 

 the keys improve all the way from Key West to the upper end 

 of Key Largo, and there is a corresponding improvement in 

 their adaptation to farming or gardening purposes. 



As the best lands for cultivation are those that support the 

 best forests, the latter have been destroyed, in great measure, 

 by the clearing of land, the favorite Pineapple crop being one 

 that is continually calling for new land. Fine old forests of 

 Mastic, Mahogany, Crab-wood and scores of other interesting 

 trees have been cut and burned to make room for plantations, 

 and of some of the rare trees it is doubtful if any specimens 

 are now to be fomid on the keys. 



The botanical characterisfics of all the Florida Keys, with the 

 exception of one group, are essentially the same, the variety 

 of species and difference in development being governed b)' 

 varying elevation and fertilit}'. The inner shores of the keys, 

 and portions of their outer shores, are covered with almost 

 impenetrable thickets of Red Mangrove (Rliizophord), among 

 which are interspersed the Black Mangrove {Atnccnnia) and 

 (he Red and White Buttonwoods {Conocarpus and Lagiincu- 

 laria). Inside of these and on more exposed shores are spe- 

 cies of Coccoloba, Mimttsops, Bitineliix, Eiigfnia, Pitlwcolobiuin, 

 Genipa, Cirsalpinia, Jacqttinia, Eritlialis, and a tew herl)a- 

 ceous plants. 



On shores composed of the sand which results from the 

 wear of corals and shells are found banks of the ashy-hued 

 Sea Lavender (Tmi7-iicfortia gnaphalodes), the greener Bay 

 Cedar {Suriana niaritiind), Borrichia, Cakile, Euphorbia gla- 

 bella and iricltotoina, and certain coarse grasses. Inside of the 

 litoral thickets, where there is more or less protection from sea 

 winils, we come to rugged fields, cultivated or neglected. If 

 cultivated, they afford a sufficiency of weeds and grasses to 

 satisfy thebotanist, but when allowed to lie waste for a year they 

 become impassable l;)y reason of the astonishingly rank vege- 

 tation which takes possession of them, everything being en- 

 tangled and bound together by vines. 



The chief natin-al impediment to locomotion in this almost 

 tropical region consists in the abundance of tough and woody 

 vines, and of trees which grow mainly in a lateral direction, 

 sending out long, slender and often thorny branches near the 

 ground. Several species vary in habit of growth, beingshrubs 

 in open ground and high-climbing vines when growing among 

 trees. Such examples go to prove that the clinibing haliit is 

 attributable to an attempt to reach direct sunshine, without 

 which few plants can perforni the important function of seed- 

 l>earing or reproduction. 



