192 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



colonies, but they have no means of their own of 

 sending forth their seeds. So they resort to this 

 clever device; they cover their indigestible seeds — 

 which the birds would never touch — with a 

 coating of succulent, nutritious pulp and they 

 paint the dainty morsel a bright, attractive color 

 and then say to the birds: "If you will plant our 

 seeds for us off at a distance we will pay by giving 

 you some delicious fruit." The offer is accepted 

 and the contract is faithfully carried out on both 

 sides. 



Although the soil in the pine woods is poor and 

 the ground is generally covered with low vegeta- 

 tion, a number of hammock plants would grow in 

 it and become trees if they had half a chance. 

 Near my home, where there has been no fire for 

 several years, the following species of broad-leaf 

 trees have appeared among the pines and some of 

 them have reached a height of ten or twelve feet: 

 Ficus aurea and brevifolia, the wild figs; Trema 

 floridana, a short-lived tree and one of the pre- 

 cursors of the hammocks; Quercus virginiana, the 

 live oak; DiphoUs salicifolia, bustic; the poison 

 wood, Metopium metopium; Pisonia obtusata or 

 bloUy; Pithecolobium guadelupensis; gumbo limbo 



