THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 219 



PiNB-BAEREN FORMATIONS. — The pine-baprens of New Providence may 

 be divided into two distinct formations, the Wet-barrens and the Dry-barrens. 

 For the character of the soil the reader is referred to the section on Bahama 

 Stony-loam in the chapter on Soils of the Bahama Islands. 



1. The Wet-barrens, into which the fresh marsh passes to the northward, 

 are about three-quarters of a mile in width at the point where they are crossed 

 by the South-side road. , The ground, which is composed of more or less honey- 

 combed rock, is not wet except in depressions, but the water is constantly 

 within a few inches of the surface. The formation differs from the typical 

 pine-barrens in the occurrence of the Inodes palmetto (Walt.) Cook (Thatch 

 palm), and differs from the wetter marsh in the occurrence of the pine. It is 

 intermediate ground where the pines and palms intermingle. The larger 

 growth, which consists almost entirely of these two trees, is open and scat- 

 tered; the slender pines reach a height of 20 to 35 feet; the palms of 15 to 20 

 feet. A few small specimens of Metopmm metopium (L.) Small, Exostemma 

 caribceum (Jacq). E. & S. and Coccololis laurifolia Jacq. are scattered here 

 and there, bxit they rarely reach the dignity of trees. The undergrowth is low 

 and open, and its principal shrubby components are Gorchorus Jiirsutus L., 

 Pithecolobium heyense Britton, Torrubia longifolia (Heimerl) Britton, Te- 

 coma bahamensis Korthrop, Lantana involucrata L., Gcyrdia bahamensis 

 Urban, Byrsonima lucida (Sw.) DC, and Bourreria havanensis (L.) Miers. 

 The vines, which form a very conspicuous part of the plant covering, are 

 Willughbwya heterophylla, Small, Bmilax beyrichii Kunth, Rhabdadenia 

 sagrcei (A. DC.) Small, Rajania hastata L., and the parasitic Gassytha fili- 

 formis L. Turnera idmifolia L., Evolvulus sericeus Sw., Lippia stoschadi- 

 folia Kunth, Decromena colorata Hitch, (the "showy sedge"), Ghloris pe- 

 trcea Thunb., and a species of Andropogon are the principal herbaceous species. 

 Here and in the next formation the little fern Ornithopteris adiantoides (Sw.) 

 Presl. is most at home. 



2. The Dry-barrens, into which the above formation passes, extend across 

 the central part of the island to the base of the Blue Hills, a distance of about 

 5 miles. The pines rarely reach a large size, being generally slender and from 

 20 to 35 feet high. Occasionally, however, a much larger specimen is seen 

 (Plate XXXV, Fig. 2). Coccothrinax jucunda Sarg. (Silver-thatch palm) 

 is,- next to the pine, the moat conspicuous and abundant tree. It is occa- 

 sionally 12 feet high, but generally smaller. As undergrowth, the 

 following plants are dominant: Metopium metopium (L.) Small 



