PRELIMINARY REPORT ON PEAT. 
237 
Tax odium distichum (cypress) 
Sabal Palmetto (cabbage palmetto) 
Nyssa biflora (black gum) 
Magnolia glauca (bay) 
Acer rubrum (maple) 
SHRUBS AND 
Hypericum fasciculatum? 
Alnus rugosa (alder) 
Amorpha fruticosa 
Sabal glabra (palmetto) 
Cephalanthus occidentalis (button- 
bush) 
Salix lengipesf (willow) 
Nyssa Ogeche (tupelo gum) 
Fraxinus profunda? (ash) 
Ulmus Floridana (elm) 
Juniperus Virginiana (cedar) 
VINES 
Myrica cerifera (myrtle) 
Parthenccissus quinquefolia (Vir¬ 
ginia creeper) 
Rhus radicans (poison ivy) 
HERBS 
Cladium effusum (saw-grass) 
Sagittaria lancifolia 
Nymphaea fluviatilis (bonnets) (in 
bayous) 
Tillandsia usnecides (Spanish 
moss) (on trees) 
Osmunda regalis (a fern) 
Scirpus validus (bulrush) 
Saururus cernuus 
Zizania aquaticaf (wild rice) 
Typlia latifolia (cat-tail) 
Phragmites communis (reed grass) 
Pontederia cordata (wampee) 
Peltandra Virginica 
Scirpus Olneyif 
Ins versicolor (blue flag) 
Carex impressa 
Car ex stipata 
"Juncus effusus (rush) 
This vegetation is by no means homogeneous. It is divided 
pretty sharply into alternate strips or patches of swamp and marsh, 
and the plants of the two kinds of places (shady and sunny) 
could have been separated pretty well in the list if the matter 
had been of sufficient importance to justify it. The marshes 
contain a few small scattered cypress and willow trees, Hypericum 
and Cephalanthus bushes, and most of the herbs listed above, while 
the swamps contain all the species of trees, most of the shrubs, and 
a few of the herbs, such as Tillandsia, Osmunda, Saururus and 
Carex. 
The alluvium of course contains a considerable quantity of or¬ 
ganic matter, from the decay of the plants which have grown there 
in centuries past, but it can hardly be called peat, on account of 
the large amount of mud present. It is quite likely that this mass 
of sediment has a decided stratified structure, with some layers 
more peaty than others. No samples of it have been taken, but 
judging from the analogy of other estuarine peat to be mentioned 
below, this must contain as much as 90% of mineral matter, on the 
average. 
