Two species of Acacia, listed below, have been 

 discovered on the Florida Keys as recently- as 1963 

 and 1967 and are apparently native (Isely 1973). It is 

 uncertain whether these very rare trees represent 

 relatively recent accidents of migration by chance 

 introduction or the last of former larger populations. 

 Both are endangered and need protection in South 

 Florida though more common in the West Indies. 



Acacia chorioplujlla Benth. One tree was found in 

 1967 on northern Key Largo (Alexander 1968). This 

 tree was growing in an undisturbed tropical ham- 

 mock of native species (formerly pine forest) with no 

 evidence of human activity in the area. The tree may 

 be crowded out by other trees or destroyed by 



planned development or might have been killed by a 

 fire in 1975. Obviously very rare. Also Bahamas and 

 Cuba. 



Acacia macracantha Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. 

 (A. macracanthoides Bert, ex DC), long-spine 

 acacia. Fifteen plants, apparently native, were 

 found on Ramrod Key (near Big Pine Key) in 1963 

 (Ward 1967). This species is very rare as a wild tree 

 but is also in cultivation. It was observed also as 

 apparently persistent after cultivation at 2 other 

 Florida localities. Reported as introduced about 

 1915 as an ornamental, escaping along roadsides 

 elsewhere in South Florida. Also West Indies and 

 northern South America. 



OTHER SPECIES CONFINED TO FLORIDA KEYS 



Four other tree species are confined to the Florida 

 Keys and absent from the mainland. They are local, 

 perhaps not rare, and appear also in the West In- 

 dies. The first species below is limited to the Lower 

 Keys while the other three are in both Lower and 

 Upper Keys. Those on Big Pine Key apparently are 

 within the National Key Deer Refuge. Certain 

 species probably are within Bahia Honda, Key 

 Largo, and other State parks. 



Pisonia rotundata Griseb., pisonia. Big Pine Key 

 and nearby keys, not rare. Also Bahamas and Cuba. 



Drypetes diversifolia Krug & Urban, milkbark. 

 Recorded as abundant on Key Largo and also on 

 Rhodes, Elliott, and Totten Keys within Biscayne 

 National Monument. Noted by Avery from these 



Keys: Vaca, Boot, Big Pine, Cudjoe, Big Torch, 

 Bahia Honda, Sugarloaf, Ramrod, Grassy, and 

 Long. Recorded also from Little Torch and doubt- 

 fully from Arsenicker Key. To be expected on any 

 key which has a hammock. Also Bahamas. 



Exostema caribaeum (J acq.) Roem. & Schult., 

 Caribbean princewood. Collected on several keys, 

 including Elliott, Largo, Upper Matecumbe, Plan- 

 tation, Big Pine, and Ramrod. Also West Indies and 

 from Mexico to Costa Rica. 



Savia bahamensis Britton, Bahama maidenbush. 

 Big Pine, Little Torch, Sugarloaf, Ramrod, No 

 Name, and other Lower Keys, also Key Largo. Also 

 Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica. 



RARE SPECIES OF MAINLAND ABSENT FROM FLORIDA KEYS 



Nine tree species listed below are rare and local on 

 the mainland in Dade County or also Monroe County 

 or slightly beyond. They are absent from the Florida 

 Keys but appear again in the West Indies and a few 

 also on the continent. The first 3 are very rare in 

 Brickell Hammock at Miami, Dade County. The 

 next 5 are in the Everglades National Park and less 

 rare. The last is coastal. 



Enallagma latifolia (Mill.) Small, black-calabash 

 (Dendrosicus latifolius (Mill.) A. Gentry; plate III). 

 Very rare at Biscayne Bay including Brickell Ham- 

 mock in Dade County. Endangered by urban de- 

 velopment. Reported in error from Upper Keys. 

 Also West Indies, southern Mexico, Central 

 America, and northern South America. 



Licaria triandra (Sw.) Kosterm., Gulf licaria 

 (plate III). Very rare and endangered. Local within 

 Miami, Dade County, known only from a few trees 

 and seedlings in Simpson Park and around houses, 

 Brickell Hammock. The first 2 trees of this West 

 Indian species were discovered in Brickell Ham- 

 mock by J. K. Small in 1904. Walter M. Buswell 

 reported about 25 trees in Miami in 1946 but pre- 

 dicted that they would soon be cut (Little 1953, p. 

 226). Apparently a few persist around houses. Also 

 in West Indies. 



Picramnia pentandra Sw., bitterbush (plate III). 

 Very rare in Brickell Hammock including Simpson 

 Park in Miami and other hammocks, such as Pine 

 Island, of Dade County. Listed as planted in 



Plate III. Four very rare trees of the Florida mainland. Upper left, Enallagma latifolia, black-calabash. Upper right, Hypelate 

 trifoliata, inkwood (also on very few keys). Lower left, Licaria triandra, Gulf licaria. Lower right, Picramnia pentandra, 

 bitterbush. All drawings one-half natural size except the first, which is one-third. 



10 



