602 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [VOL XXXII. 
Whitney on Florida.' — For the same reason as the preceding we 
wish to call attention to the plates which accompany this report. 
They illustrate excellently well some of the peculiar features of the 
plant associations in Florida. Among these may be mentioned views 
of (1) high pine land at Ft. Meade, (2) high pine land at Altoona, 
(3) hammock land at Ft. Meade, (4) border line between scrub and 
high pine land at Altoona, (5) the characteristic vegetation of the 
Etonia scrub. Concerning the Etonia scrub, which has been a source 
of speculation and wonder to every botanist who has seen it, we 
quote the following : 
“ The great Etonia scrub formation was examined at Altoona. It 
is an impressive sight to stand at the border line between the scrub 
and the high pine land and notice the difference in the character of 
the vegetation. The high pine land is open, the trees are large and 
vigorous, and the ground is covered with a crop of grass which gives 
very good grazing for cattle. The vegetation is quick and generous, 
and the most tender garden plants will grow luxuriantly if properly 
attended to. These conditions stop abruptly at the edge of the 
scrub. The boundary between the high pine land and the scrub can 
be located without trouble within a few feet... . 
“In the scrub there is a dense growth of scrub oaks and low 
bushes and plants, all having thick leaves protected to the utmost 
from loss of water by evaporation, by the property that desert plants 
have of turning the leaves up edgeways to the sun, to expose as little 
surface as possible to the direct rays. No grass is found, and only 
the most hardy desert plants grow. When pines grow it is the dwarf 
spruce pine and not the long-leaf pine, while on the other hand 
the spruce pine is not found across the border in the high pine 
lands proper. 
“The full-grown scrub vegetation reaches about the height of a 
man’s head... . This scrub growth stretches out at this place in 
an unbroken line for ten or fifteen miles to the northward, and the 
whole country presents a most desolate appearance. The country 
is generally rolling in both the high pine land and scrub. ‘There are 
lakes at which the scrub and the high pine vegetation meet at the 
water’s edge. There is no indication from the topography of the 
country of any difference in the climate over the two soils. Very 
few attempts are known to have been made to cultivate the scrub 
1 A Preliminary Report on the Soils of Florida, by Milton Whitney, Chief of 
Division of Soils. Buletin No. 13, Division of Soils, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 
Washington, Gov. Printing Office, June, 1898. 
