FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
21 
jessamine, Gelsimium sempervirens, has 
already colonized; for, running into the 
fringe of the woodland, it has blanketed 
the smaller trees without respect to genera 
or species, and farther on, finding a com¬ 
paratively open glade, has covered it as 
with a carpet; although a carpet, it must 
be confessed, that is badly frayed at the 
edges and that displays a surprising ten¬ 
dency to climb up anything that would an¬ 
swer for chair or table legs. 
Equally at home with the yellow jessa¬ 
mine are the cat briars or sweet briars, 
one of which, Smilax Walteri, produces an 
abundance of coral red berries which, in 
winter, as they hang from the then in¬ 
conspicuous, leafless vines, give to the 
trees over which they run, the peculiar 
effect of having formed a trust and settled 
amongst their respective genera and 
species, upon one particular fruit that they 
will bear. The smilax, of which there are 
many species, together with wild grapes 
of the muscadine type, contest with each 
other and with the yellow jessamine for 
the honor of most quickly covering up de¬ 
caying or decayed matter as well as the 
heig'ht to which they will climb on any 
natural growth of trellis-like formation. 
I see I have wandered from large trees 
down to shrubs and vines. Let us return 
in the same way and, in passing, consider 
the haws. Of these, the botanists list no 
less than forty-seven species found grow¬ 
ing wild in this state, many of which are 
decidedly worth cultivating, either as in¬ 
dividual specimens or for hedges. In my 
thicket, I have at least three species, all 
handsome in flower and leaf. They be¬ 
long to the genus crataegus. It is one of 
the same family as pyrus—to which ap¬ 
ples and pears belong. 
Wild huckleberries, or vacciniums, are 
also very much in evidence and one 
species of these which assumes large, 
shrub-like proportions—often reaching 
a height of twelve feet—is very beautiful. 
This is particularly true when in early 
spring its delicate pink and white blos¬ 
soms, on slender branchlets, are putting in 
their appearance in advance of the foli¬ 
age. 
The bare mention of early spring 
brings us back to two different species oi 
prunus. One Prunus angustifolia, our 
common wild Chickasaw plum, with its 
abundance of snowv white blossoms; the 
other, Prunus serotina, our common wild 
cherry, with its smooth, dark glossy bark 
and beautiful, shining dark green leaves. 
Both of these are amongst the earliest 
trees to notify us that spring is at hand— 
the wild plum with its blossoms, the wild 
cherry with its foliage. 
Almost, in the same breath, as far as 
season of growth is concerned, we notice 
flames of scarlet, both isolated and in 
clusters throughout our woodland. 
These are the tiny young leaves and blos¬ 
soms of the scarlet maple, Acer rubrum, 
which furnishes a wealth of color during 
its season of initial spring growth; con¬ 
tinues it during the ripening of its keys, or 
samaras, and grandly accentuates it again 
later in the season when it begins to think 
of disrobing for its winter nap. ^ 
Although the sweet gum does not have 
the gorgeous spring coloring of the scar¬ 
let maple, it vies with it in the fall and 
both are surpassed, if such a thing is pos¬ 
sible, by the black or sour gum. One 
writer has said that if the leaves of sweet 
gum and scarlet maple are fiery in their 
fall redness those of black gum are a con¬ 
flagration. Of this, I have abundant 
proof for standing by itself just outside 
this thicket, and in plain sight of my office 
window, a magnificent black gum has, for 
