The 60 species of rare native trees of South 

 Florida discussed in this compilation are listed al- 

 phabetically in the index. They are restricted to 

 three southernmost counties, rarely a short distance 

 beyond, and are classed here as rare or local. These 

 species may be grouped according to local distribu- 

 tion as follows: 



Keys only, 13 species 



Lower Keys only, 6 species 

 Upper Keys only, 3 species 

 Both Lower and Upper Keys, 4 species 

 Mainland only, 9 species 

 Both keys and mainland, 38 species 



Thirty, or one-half, of these 60 species are native 

 at least as far as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 

 Islands about 1,000 miles east-southeast of Florida. 

 Descriptions and illustrations of them and many 

 others of the total of 98 species appear in the refer- 

 ence on trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 

 (Little and Wadsworth 1964; Little, Woodbury, and 

 Wadsworth 1974). Twenty drawings from that 

 source showing foliage, flowers, and fruits are re- 

 produced in plates II-VI, arranged alphabetically by 

 scientific name. 



PARKS AND OTHER PRESERVES 



Many species of rare tropical plants are found 

 within parks and other preserves of South Florida. 

 Thus some protection is provided against expanding 

 human activities. However, additional areas are 

 needed, especially to protect those species absent 

 from existing refuges. This region has no National 

 Forests. 



Everglades National Park, under the National 

 Park Service, is the largest, containing 858,500 

 acres of land and about 370,000 acres of water. It 

 extends over more than one-half of Monroe County 

 and one-fourth of Dade County. A small area on Key 

 Largo near the mainland is included. Biscayne Na- 

 tional Monument in Dade County at the northern 

 end of the Upper Keys comprises these and smaller 

 keys: Sands, Elliott, and Old Rhodes. The National 

 Key Deer Refuge, under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, occupies parts of Big Pine Key (including 

 Watson Hammock) and adjacent islands in the 

 Lower Keys. 



Several parks in South Florida under State or 

 local administration contain rare plants. The 

 largest, Collier-Seminole State Park, is in south- 



western Collier County. Chekika State Recreation 

 Area (formerly Grossman Hammock State Park) is 

 11 miles northwest of Homestead, Dade County. On 

 the keys these preserves possess rare trees: John 

 Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (on Key Largo), 

 Lignum Vitae Key State Park, Long Key State Rec- 

 reation Area, and Bahia Honda State Recreation 

 Area. 



Dade County (county seat, Miami) has these 

 county parks with rare plants: Matheson (south of 

 Miami), Viscaya (includes part of Brickell Ham- 

 mock), Castellow Hammock, Camp Owaissa Bauer 

 (includes Timms Hammock), Fuchs Hammock, 

 Greynolds, and Crandon. Simpson Park and Wain- 

 wright Park, city parks within Miami, preserve part 

 of Brickell Hammock. 



Also, rare trees are protected in cultivation in 

 these and other parks and gardens: Fairchild Tropi- 

 cal Garden (south of Miami), Gifford Arboretum at 

 the University of Miami (Coral Gables), and the Girl 

 Scout Park in Homestead. Corkscrew Swamp 

 Sanctuary is a preserve in northwestern Collier 

 County. 



ENDEMIC TREES 



Long and Lakela (1971, p. 15) noted that more 

 than 300 endemic or localized flowering plant species 

 are recorded from Florida, mostly in the Lake Dis- 

 trict of the central region. A second concentration is 

 in the southern part, including the Florida Keys. 

 About 9 percent of the flora of tropical Florida is 

 endemic, the majority herbaceous dicotyledons, 



presumably of recent origin. Endemism in Florida 

 was reviewed earlier by James (1961) and by Long, 

 Lakela, and Broome (1969). 



Florida does have several tree species classed as 

 local or endemic, but these are found northward and 

 are not tropical. The Lake District or sandhill area of 

 central Florida with scrub vegetation of evergreen 



