32 



shades — purple and white — is grown for ornament. It blooms 

 about three weeks later than the Chinese, and its flowers are 

 borne in smaller clusters and are deeper colored than in that 

 species. Our vine is offered for sale by nurserymen and there is 

 an improved form (variety magnified) that is more floriferus in 

 cultivation than is the wild plant. 



Walter's smilax climbs up as high as twelve feet or more into 

 the trees, and in winter it makes a beautiful show with its bright 

 scarlet berries. It was named for one of the best known early 

 botanists of America, Thomas Walter of South Carolina. 



The storax generally grows along the creek margins or other 

 open spots where it can get some sunlight. It is a good sized 

 bush that bears a profusion of pretty bell-shaped white flowers in 

 middle April. It, too, is sold by dealers and is well worthy of 

 cultivation. 



The large cane (Arundiaria macrosperma) grows plentifully in 

 the deep, rich soil of swamps, preferring the better lighted edges 

 of the streams, and the dwarf cane (Arundinaria tecta) is abun- 

 dant on the edges of bays and ponds. I have never known either 

 species to fruit at Hartsville, though they probably do so at long 

 intervals. 



In the open swampy places below the dam there is in July a 

 handsome display of the white flowers of Sabatia lanceolata and 

 the greenish yellow flat-topped cymes of Polygdla cymosa. 

 Earlier in the season the small white flowers of the swamp flea- 

 bane (Erigeron vemus) are numerous enough to be quite con- 

 spicuous. 



The Lakes and Ponds. 



In many respects the margins of the more extensive bodies of 

 water duplicate certain of the conditions already described, but 

 it is not so at all points, and it is best to include the marginal 

 growth in any discussion of their vegetation. I shall first con- 

 sider the flora of 



Prestwood's Lake. 



This artificial lake was formed by the damming of Black Creek 

 by the Carolina Fiber Compan}^ about eighteen years ago. The 

 lake itself may be said to extend for a little over a mile, but 

 there is back water in the creek swamp for more than a mile 

 farther. The width of the lake is about a quarter of a mile across 

 at its broadest part. 



