THE  LIBRARY

OF

THE  UNIVERSITY
OF  CALIFORNIA

LOS  ANGELES


FLORA


OF   THE


FLOKIDA  KEYS


BEING    DESCRIPTIONS   OF

THE  SEED-PLANTS  GROWING  NATURALLY  ON  THE

ISLANDS  OF  THE  FLORIDA  REEF
FROM  VIRGINIA    KEY  TO  DRY  TORTUGAS


BY

JOHN  KUNKEL  SMALL,  PH.D.,  Sc.D.
HEAD  CURATOR  OF  THE  MUSEUMS  AND  HERBARIUM  OP  THE  NEW  YORK  BOTANICAL  GARDEN


NEW  YORK

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR
1913


Copyright,  1913
By  JOHN  KUNKEL  SMALL


Tfct  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  c
LANCASTER.  PA.
PEEFACE.
This  Flora  contains  descriptions  of  the  seed-plants  known  to  the  author
to  grow  naturally  on  the  islands  of  the  Florida  Reef  from  Virginia  Key  to
Dry  Tortugas.  These  islands  are  known  collectively  as  the  Florida  Keys,
and  they  lie  in  the  form  of  a  parabola  with  a  length  of  about  two  hundred
and  twenty-five  miles.  There  are  approximately  two  hundred  named
islands.  They  are  divided  naturally  into  four  groups  which  are  described
below.
At  the  northeastern  end  of  the  chain  are  two  sand  islands,  namely
Virginia  Key  and  Key  Biscayne.  These  may  be  designated  the  Upper
Sand  keys  ("U.  S.  keys").1  These  two  bodies  of  sand  are  really  mere
detached  portions  of  the  slender  coastal  peninsula  of  sand-dunes  extending
along  the  eastern  side  of  peninsular  Florida.
Seven  miles  south  of  Key  Biscayne  a  second  group  of  islands  appears.
These  are  composed  of  coral-rock,  and  extend  from  Soldier  Key,  for  a
distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  to  the  West  Summerland
or  Spanish  Harbor  Keys.  The  islands  are  for  the  most  part  greatly
elongated  and  with  the  long  axis  in  a  curve  following  the  general  trend  of
the  adjacent  mainland.  This  group  is  known  as  the  Upper  keys  ("  U.
keys").
