west coast to Sanibel Island and Cedar Key, also 

 within Everglades National Park. 



Torrubia globosa Small, roundleaf blolly, (Guap- 

 ira globosa (Small) Little), of South Florida main- 

 land and Florida Keys, apparently is a synonym of 

 Guapira discolor (Spreng.) Little of the West In- 

 dies. These two related species of South Florida and 



the West Indies have been reduced by Gillis (1974) to 

 synonymy also: T. bracei Britton and T. longifolia 

 (Heimerl) Britton. 



Trema floridana Britton has been reduced to a 

 synonym or variety of T. micrantha (L.) Blume, 

 Florida trema (T. micrantha var. floridana (Brit- 

 ton) Standi. & Steverm.). 



VERY RARE SPECIES OF FLORIDA KEYS 



Only about 13 species of native trees are confined 

 to the Florida Keys and absent from the mainland. 

 However, all are present also in the West Indies and 

 are classed as border or peripheral species, thus 

 neither endemic nor threatened with extinction. 

 Nine of these are very rare and endangered locally 

 and nearly extinct in Florida, though no tree species 

 is known to have become extinct there. A few appar- 

 ently were rare or accidental in the undisturbed 

 vegetation and perhaps not more numerous in the 

 past than now and never a conspicuous part of the 

 vegetation. Seeds might have been transported by 

 hurricanes or birds. A few species might persist 

 from introductions by early settlers and thus appear 

 to be native. Four others have been mentioned as 

 excluded. 



Five of the 9 very rare species are found on the 

 Lower Keys and 3 on the Upper Keys, and 1 has 

 varieties in each group. The following list includes a 

 summary of distribution within Florida and outside 

 and, if known, notes about the discovery. 



Cereus robinii (Lem.) L. Benson, the tree-cactus, 

 has been mentioned (plate I). It is represented by 2 

 varieties, originally named as endemic species. Both 

 are classed as endangered and listed as commer- 

 cially exploited species privately collected. C. 

 robinii var. robinii (Cephalocereus keyensis Britton 

 & Rose), Key West tree-cactus or the typical vari- 

 ety, is known from the Lower Florida Keys north to 

 Big Pine Key and also in Cuba. Var. deeringii 

 (Small) L. Benson {Cephalocereus deeringii Small), 

 Deering tree-cactus, is endemic to the Upper 

 Florida Keys. (Incidentally, the varietal names 

 were reversed by Long and Lakela, 1971.) Nuttall 



(1842-49; 1: viii) mentioned the cacti 30 or more feet 

 high observed at Key West about 1839 or 1840 by 

 Blodgett, who collected flowers. Not until 1909 did 

 Britton and Rose publish a name. Wild plants disap- 

 peared from Key West about 1915. (Saguaro, Cereus 

 giganteus Engelm., the larger, giant cactus of 

 Arizona, was collected later but named earlier in 

 1848.) 



Clusia rosea Jacq., copey clusia (plate II). First 

 reported from Florida at Big Pine Key by Small 

 (1913a, 1913b), as having been discovered by John 

 Loomis Blodgett, of Key West, and not afterwards 

 collected. Rediscovered at Big Pine Key in 1938 by 

 Roy 0. Woodbury and John Waldeck. George Avery 

 reported to the author that he saw wild plants there 

 in 1967, but most recent searchers have not found 

 them. Noted to be very rare on Little Torch Key, 

 apparently within National Key Deer Refuge, but 

 not found on Big Pine Key (Dickson, Woodbury, and 

 Alexander 1953, p. 196). However, Avery stated 

 that the one tree on the former key died in 1960. 

 Reported also from Sugarloaf, Cudjoe, and Bahia 

 Honda Keys (Long and Lakela 1971). Avery noted 

 that the large plant seen by him on Sugarloaf Key in 

 1962 was on a midden area, now a subdivision, and 

 may be a persistent plant or seedling from cultiva- 

 tion or a wild plant. The.one tree on Cudjoe Key died 

 in 1967, but this species was found wild on No Name 

 Key in 1968. The only plants known by him on Bahia 

 Honda Keys were cultivated. Also nearly through 

 West Indies from Bahamas and Cuba to Puerto Rico 

 and Virgin Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago and 

 from southern Mexico to Colombia, Venezuela, and 

 French Guiana. 



Plate I. Four rare trees 



F-523647 

 Upper left. Cephalocereus robinii var. deeringii, Deering tree-cactus. Lower Matecumbe Key, where first found, photograph 

 published with original description bv John K. Small (1917). 



F-523650 

 Upper right. Swietenia mahagoni. West Indies mahogany. Spreading crown of large tree in Everglades National Park. 

 Photograph bv Connie Toops. National Park Service. 



F^523649 

 Lower left, Roystonea elata, Florida royalpalm. Everglades National Park. Photograph by Connie Toops, National Park 

 Service. 



F-523648 

 Lower right, Acoelorrhaphe urightii, paurotis. Photograph by Walter M. Buswell. 



