PRELIMINARY REPORT ON PEAT. 
287 
TRIBUTARIES OF THE LOWER ST. JOHNS. 
+ 
On the estuarine part of the St. Johns River and its tributaries 
there are some interesting peat deposits which are quite unlike each 
other or anything else I have seen. Two of them are much deeper 
than the average, are situated on navigable waters, and have been 
worked to some extent. 
JULINGTON CREEK. 
The first is at the confluence of Davis and Julington Creeks at 
the southern edge of Duval County, about five miles west of Bayard 
on the Florida East Coast Railway. At this point each creek is 
bordered on one side by a narrow strip of cypress swamp, but 
between them there is an open marsh covering about 200 acres, 
passing gradually into pine land eastward. On Dec. 18, 1908, the 
following herbs were observed in this marsh: 
Spartina Bakeri (a large grass) 
Erianthus sp. (a tall grass) 
Cladium effusum (saw-grass) 
Osmunda regalis (a fern) 
Sagittaria lancifolia 
Andropogon sp. (broom-sedge) 
Rhynchospora caduca? 
Eryngium praealtum? 
The grass Spartina Bakeri, although it is common around many 
of the best peat deposits in Florida, does not usually occur in great 
quantity ; but at this place it is more abundant than all the other 
vegetation combined. Besides the plants above listed, Pontcderia 
cordata grows along the water edges of the marsh, but is now al¬ 
most choked out by its near relative the water hyacinth. Cera- 
tophyllum demersum grows beneath the surface of the water, and a 
few shrubs and small trees, such as Acer nibrnm (maple), Ulmus 
sp. (elm), Myrica cerifera (myrtle), and Baccharis halimifolia, 
are scattered along the banks of the creeks. 
The peat here has a decided sulphurous odor, and over 10% 
of ash, but this does not materially affect its value for either fuel 
or fertilizer purposes. (See analyses under locality No. 6 and 
miscellaneous Nos. 2 to 5.) It is said to have a maximum depth 
of about 30 feet, and to contain rotten wood in its lower portions. 
This possibly indicates that at some former period, a few thousand 
years ago, perhaps, when the land stood higher than it does now, 
this place was a swamp. Just why it should be treeless now, 
when the other sides of both creeks are well wooded, is not obvious. 
In South Florida treeless wet places are very common, perhaps 
because there are not many trees down that way which will grow in 
water; but in this latitude (a little north of 30°) fresh marshes 
are rather unusual. 
