TARFLOWER 



Befaria racemosa Ventenat 



While traveling through the South in June, whether by rail or 

 automobile, one finds the green fringe of low shrubbery by the road- 

 sides dotted here and there with the pink starlike blossoms of the 

 tarflower. These shrubs rarely occur in dense vegetation, but usually 

 in such places as will permit them to raise their flowery heads above 

 the grass, weeds, and low shrubbery, to beckon the insect sponsors 

 necessary for their cross pollination. 



The species ranges from southern Florida to southeastern Georgia. 



The specimen here figured came from a woodland margin along 

 the tracks of the Florida East Coast Railroad near Jacksonville, Florida. 



PLATE 17 



