GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES. I3I 
THE NATIVE VEGETATION. 
In connection with the soil survey of this area there was pre¬ 
sented a favorable opportunity for preserving a record of the dis¬ 
tribution of the native vegetation. The permanent preservation of 
this data has seemed the more desirable from the fact that as the 
land is cleared for cultivation the record of the distribution of the 
vegetation types or plant groups is obliterated. Moreover, that 
there is an important relation between the soils and the native vege¬ 
tation is a fact that is well recognized, and indeed the character of 
the vegetation is much used by the average farmer in selecting land 
for cultivation. It is probably true also that as future soil studies 
progress this relationship will be the more clearly developed and will 
become more fully understood. For this reason it is believed that 
the vegetation map accompanying this report will prove of much 
value in future studies of the soils of this area. 
The data on which the vegetation map«is based have been col¬ 
lected by the authors of the soil report, namely Herman and Emil 
Gunter of the Florida Geological Survey and Charles N. Mooney 
and W. J. Latimer of the United States Department of Agriculture. 
The identification of the plants, which was necessary in order to 
properly characterize the plant groups or vegetation types, has been 
made at various times during 1908, 1909, 1910, 1914 and 1915, by 
Dr. R. M. Harper. In addition to merely listing the plants Dr. 
Harper has made use of original methods of quantitative studies by 
which the relative abundance of individuals of the different species 
is indicated. The proportion of evergreen and deciduous plants 
is also indicated, bold faced type being used for the evergreen spe¬ 
cies. The plant lists thus arranged, express at a glance the relative 
components of the several plant groups. The vegetation types de¬ 
scribed by Dr. Harper agree in the main with those mapped by 
Messrs. Mooney, Latimer, Gunter and Gunter. Minor differences, 
however, will be noted. 
In designating the several plant groups it has seemed best to use 
in this report terms already largely in use indicating the predominat¬ 
ing timber growth, and in so far as possible the topography of the 
land and character of the soil. In this way it has not been found 
necessary to introduce terms other than those already in use and 
generally understood. 
