TRANSACTIONS OF WAGNER 
[9] 
9 VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 
caribaea Morelet. South of Punta Gorda, Pinus caribaea Morelet becomes 
more abundant and exclusive. 
The undergrowth in the slash-pine forests of the east coast and the west 
coast exists in three, or four, layers. The second layer consists of shrubs and 
low trees, none of them reaching to the lower branches of the dominant pine 
trees. Hence the forest appears to be an unusually open one, because the view 
is unobstructed by the bushes that in many denser forests close together and 
fill up the spaces between the taller trees. The constituent elements of the 
undergrowth vary from place to place. Along the east coast, although edaphic 
conditions of the oölitic limestone soil are very similar, there is considerable 
diversity in the typic shrubs of the pineland. When we contrast this with 
the secondary plants of the west coast, we find a greater difference, although 
the prevailing pine tree in both forests is the slash-pine, Pinus caribaea 
Morelet.* Two low palms are found beneath the pine trees on the east coast. 
They are, Serenoa serrulata (Michx.) Hook., the saw-palmetto, which with a long 
thick surface-growing, or underground rhizome, either grows in circular clumps, 
or else forms an extensive, almost exclusive, growth with leaves rising .6 to 1 
meter above the rocky soil surface. It is found in two forms, the glaucous- 
leaved form and the form with bright-green leaves. It is less widely distrib- 
uted on the west coast. Confined to the east coast is a low palm tree which first 
makes its appearance about the Miami River. Hereit grows about 1.5 m. tall or 
less. As the extreme southern portion of the pineland is approached it reaches 
a greater height of 2 to 3 meters. It is the silver-palm, Coccothrinax argentea 
(Lodd.) Sarg., with silvery, flabellate leaf blades and purple-black drupaceous 
fruits (Plate II, Fig. 3). On Big Pine Key and on the other Florida keys, in 
the Bahamas, and in Cuba, it becomes a tree reaching a height of 8 meters. 
Its low stature on the mainland may be due to its reaching the frost limit, while 
on the islands where frosts are unknown and where ameliorating ocean breezes 
blow, it grows to a much larger size. It is a handsome palm, whether low or 
tall, and is a striking feature of the forest where found. It was not seen on the 
west coast. 
The waxberry, Myrica cerifera L., was collected in the pine forest at 
Miami and Ft. Myers. It is a round-headed shrub with dark-green, fragrant 
* In the accompanying description, the following letters will be used to designate the locality 
where the plants mentioned in the description were collected by me. М. Miami; Н. = Home- 
stead; S.=Samville; F. Е. Myers; S. F. South of Ft. Myers. 
