TRANSACTIONS OF WAGNER 
VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 
64 
Beach (Fairyland) opposite Miami, Punta Rassa at the mouth of the Caloosa- 
hatchee River, and Sanibel Island, across San Carlos Bay on the west coast. 
The vegetation of Anastasia Island, which is 283 kilometers (about 170 miles) 
north of the northern limits of South Florida is described by way of comparison. 
The description that follows is based on notes made in the field, upon 
the published maps of the coast and upon the collection of plants made by 
the writer, marked by an asterisk, and by other botanists whose collections 
are found in the herbaria of the University of Pennsylvania and the New 
York Botanical Garden. 
Beach Formation on Anastasia Island.—The beach of Anastasia Island, 
which is easily reached from St. Augustine by trolley, is locally called South 
Beach and is much frequented as a bathing beach. The beach is very 
wide and flat. The lower and middle beaches are devoid of vegetation. The 
middle beach, during my visit on December 25, 1910, was marked by aeolian 
sand ripples, which gave a billowed appearance to the surface. The sorting 
action of the wind was remarkably shown in that the heavier grains of sand 
formed the crest and the lighter grains the trough, showing that the winds 
were just sufficiently strong to lift the smaller grains and not strong enough 
to destroy the rippled surface. 
The upper beach was also rippled and was characterized by the long 
creeping stems of "Ipomoea pes-capre (L.) Sweet, with open capsules out 
of which the large hairy seeds were falling to the sand beneath. Straggling 
bushes of *Croton punctatus Jacq. (=Croton maritimus Walt.) were noted. 
The sea rocket, *Cakile edentula (Bigel.) Hook., was also common on the beach. 
Beach Formation of Ormond Beach.—The lower and middle beaches at 
Ormond form a level surface of sand which, on account of their unusual width, 
are used for automobile races. They are entirely destitute of flowering plants. 
The upper beach is terraced and is partly covered with *Uniola paniculata 
L., associated with Cakile edentula (Bigel.) Hook., *Ipomoea pes-capre (L.) 
Sweet, and clumps of *Croton punctatus Jacq. Houstonia rotundifolia Michx. 
is a perennial, prostrate, creeping herb growing in the dunes and between the 
seaside-oats. Here also is seen *Chamecrista brachiata Pollard, a tough- 
stemmed freely-branching plant, Solidago stricta Ait., and a depressed shrub, 
Bumelia angustifolia Nutt, with persistent leathery leaves shining above, 
1 Cf. Olsson-Seffer, P.: „The Genesis and Development of Sand Formations on Marine 
Coasts.” Augustana Library Publications, No. 7, 1910, p. 18. 
