FREE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE 
VEGETATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA 
121 
photographs taken near Miami are given in a paper by Ernst A. Bessey 
published in the roth Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden (pages 
| 25-33, plates 1-9), and of a similar Mexican species by Trelease in the тбїһ 
Annual Report (pages 161—165, plates 39-45). The pond-apple, Annona glabra 
L., which becomes 14 meters tall, is present in Brickell Hammock. It plays a 
relatively unimportant róle, but is associated with the Jamaica-dogwood, 
Icthyomethia piscipula (L.) A. Hitchc., bitterwood, Simarouba glauca DC., 
and crabwood, Gymnanthes lucida Sw. The gumbo-limbo, Bursera sima- 
ruba (L.) Rose, is a striking tree of the forest attaining a height of 20 
meters and with a red-brown, smooth and shining bark, which peels off 
freely in papery layers like those of the yellow birch, hence another name for 
the tree, West Indian birch. The mahogany, Swietenia mahagoni Jacq., 
grows to be 25 meters tall in South Florida. The doctor gum, Metopium 
toxiferum (L.) Krug & Urb., is an element of the hammock formation. The 
bark is thin, splitting when old into large scales, red-brown outside and 
orange within. Its sap is poisonous to the skin. The introduced soapberry, 
Sapindus saponaria L., grows to be a tree то meters tall. The black-iron- 
wood, Krugiodendron ferreum (Vahl) Urb., is an evergreen tree which 
sometimes grows to a height of то meters with a gray-ridged bark and 
green, velvety twigs. The mastic, Sideroxylon fœtidissimum Jacq., is an 
evergreen tree that becomes 25 meters tall. Finally, the list of dominant 
trees, as far as the material studied will allow, includes the ironwood, Eugenia 
confusa DC. (= E. Garberi Sarg.), the guava, Psidium guajava Raddi, satin- 
leaf, Chrysophyllum olivaeforme L., bustic Dipholis salicifolia (L.) A. DC., 
and black calabash, Enallagma (Crescentia) latifolia (Mill.) Small. 
The vines, or lianes, of the hammock formation include Smilax Beyrichii 
Kunth, wild vanilla, Vanilla Eggersii Rolfe, Gouania lupuloides (L.) Urb. 
(=G. domingensis L.), the bullace-grape, Muscadinia (Vitis) Munsoniana 
(Simps.) Small, with juicy, edible berries, the Virginia-creeper, Ampelopsis 
quinquefolia (L.) Planch., and Morinda roioc L. A reclining cactus, Acan- 
thocereus pentagonus (L.) Britt. & Rose, occurs along the bluff facing Bay 
Biscayne and perhaps should be included among the vines. A diffusely 
branching vine of a dark-green color with narrow leaf blades and greenish 
flowers is Amphistelma scoparia (Nutt.) Small (=Metastelma scoparium 
(Nutt.) Vail). As a member of the family Asclepiadaceae, it has a copious, 
milky juice, and the writer suggests that on account of its rapid growth 
