A WARNING TO FLORIDA. 



C. C. CURTIS, PH.D. 



Photos by the Author. 



One of the most attractive features to 

 visitors in Florida is the forest growth, 

 particularly the stands of pine. These mag- 

 nificent trees cover extensive belts of sandy 

 soil, especially in the Central and Northern 

 portions of the State, and present a pic- 

 ture of sylvan beauty scarcely rivaled in 

 any land. 



The great charm of these forests is found 

 in their open formation. The trees are 



and below, until the view is closed in the 

 distance by the columnar tree trunks, a 

 Savannah-like growth of grass, sometimes 

 interspersed with palmetto. 



Where these forests approach the lower 

 lands, the so-called "bay heads," the Sabal 

 palmetto, makes its appearance and adds a 

 characteristic and unique feature to the 

 vegetation. Along the rivers and in the 

 swampy places the pines and the palmettoes 



A TYPICAL FLORIDA PINE FOREST. 



not tolerant of shade, and the weaker ones 

 being crowded out in the struggle for ex- 

 istence, a wide separation of the trees re- 

 sults in the mature forest. These open 

 forests, extending for miles in many sec- 

 tions, permit sufficient light to filter through 

 the wide crowns of the trees to support a 

 carpet of grass, or in wetter localities of 

 saw palmetto. The effect produced by this 

 relationship is one never to be forgotten; 

 the straight, clean trunks rising 75 to 120 

 feet, surmounted by a broadly branching 

 crown clothed with plumelike branches, 



give way to various growths, as for ex- 

 ample, the live oaks and magnificent stands 

 of cypress. These prand trees, decked with 

 a gray mantle of Florida moss, present a 

 third feature of the forest growth that is 

 as attractive and distinctive as any in the 

 State. It has never been my privilege to see 

 brought together into such striking con- 

 trasts such varied, characteristic and at- 

 tractive forest formations. 



One of the most unpleasant impressions 

 of Florida is associated with these same 



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