FLORIDA STRANGLER FIG
(Ficus aurea)
IN the lower part of the Peninsula and Keys on rich hammocks grow two native figs as well as the common fig, which is a native of the Mediterranean region that has escaped from cultivation. About 600 species are known, mostly on the Pacific and Indian Ocean islands.
The native wild fig often starts as a vine but later attains a height up to 60 feet with a trunk up to three or four feet
in diameter. The tree has a broad rounded top which sends down aerial roots that grow, thus extending the tree over large areas. The bark is smooth and light gray.
The leaves are oblong and narrowed toward each end, two to five inches long by about two inches broad, thick and leathery. They are dull yellow-green and shiny above, and paler below. They remain green for two years.
The flowers are reddish purple, in the axils of the leaves. The two kinds of flowers are borne on the same tree. The fruit is rounded and flattened, with thick reddish purple leaf-like appendages, called "receptacles." The thin flesh of the fruit is sticky.
The wood is light brown, very light, soft and weak, and surrounded by a wide band of lighter colored sapwood.
PIGEON PLUM
(Coccolobis floridana)
THE pigeon plum is the only tree member of the buckwheat family of plants. It is one of the largest and most abundant of the seacoast trees of tropical Florida, found most abundantly on the hammocks of the Keys. Its range is from Cape Canaveral around to Cape Sable.
It forms a tree up to 70 feet in height with a tall straight trunk up to two feet in diameter. The spreading branches form a dense round-topped head.
The leaves occur alternately on the stem, vary from oval to pear-shaped, thick and firm in texture, bright green above and paler below, one and one-half to three inches long by about two inches wide, with a short, stout leaf stalk.
The flowers are small, in clusters about two inches in length along the terminal shoot, or twig. They open in early spring.
The fruit is a dark red to black "berry," singly along the terminal twig, each about one-third inch long and containing a thin-walled brown seed or nutlet.
The wood is heavy, very hard, strong, brittle, reddish brown or dark brown in color, with a wide band of lighter colored sapwood. It is sometimes used for cabinet work.
A closely related species, called "sea grape," has leaves that are wider than long and heart-shaped at the base, fruit in grape-like clusters and wood of a somewhat violet tinged brown.
AMERICAN PLUM
(Prunus americana)
THE common wild plum, or yellow plum, is a small tree of western Florida, which at a height usually of three to six feet divides into many spreading branches, often drooping at the ends. Not uncommonly it grows in thickets where it attains only large shrub size. The value of the tree lies in its fruit from which jelly and preserves are made; and its handsome form and foliage, pure white fragrant flowers, and showy fruit which make it desirable for ornamental planting. Several other species of plums or cherries are natives.
The leaves are alternate, oval, pointed, sharply toothed (often doubly toothed) along the margin, thick and firm, three to four inches long by one to two inches wide, narrowed or rounded at the base, and prominently veined on both surfaces.
The flowers appear in numerous small clusters before or simultaneously with the leaves, and are white with small bright red portions in the center. With a profusion of flowers, this tree is one of the delights of early spring in the woods. The fruit, or plum, which ripens in late summer, is red or orange colored, about an inch in diameter, contains a stone or pit that is flattened and about as long as the pulpy part, and varies rather widely in its palatability. Horticulturists have selected and improved certain strains for cultivation.
The wood is heavy, hard, close-grained, reddish brown in color and has no special commercial uses.
The wild goose, or river, plum also occurs over the State. Its leaves are smaller, narrower and more noticeably pointed.
CAROLINA LAURELCHERRY
(Prunus caroliniana)
A HANDSOME tree with dark green leaves and much planted for ornamental purposes, the laurel cherry, or mock orange, is native as far south as Bay Biscayne and Kissimmee River. It prefers river banks and the borders of hammocks, and in the region about Orange County is an abundant tree. The trunk is straight or leaning, up to 40 feet in height by some 10 inches in diameter. The head is dense with many leaves.
The leaves are narrowly oblong, pointed, smooth on the margin, from two to four inches long and up to one and one-half inches wide, dark rich green and glossy on the upper surface. Animals browsing on the partly withered leaves and twigs are sometimes fatally poisoned because of the hydrocyanic acid they contain.
The flowers, appearing in early spring, are small and in clusters borne in the axils of the leaves. The very small petals are cream colored. The fruit, which ripens in the early autumn, and remains on the tree until after the tree has flowered the following spring, is black, oblong, and shiny. The thick skin covers a stony seed about one-half inch long.
The reddish brown wood is heavy, hard, strong, and close grained. Around it is a band of lighter colored sapwood. There are no special uses for the wood. The tree occurs from North Carolina over the coast region to Texas and in the Bermuda Islands.
BLACK CHERRY
(Prunus serotina)
The black cherry is one of the most widely distributed hardwoods in north Florida, occurring in
hammocks and along fence rows as far south as
Lake County. Although it can grow to a height of
100 feet and a trunk diameter of 4-5 feet, it seldom
gets that large in Florida.
The leaves of the black cherry are deciduous.
dark green and shiny above and paler beneath and from
2-6 inches long. They have finely toothed
margins, are narrowly elliptical and have long
pointed tips and rounded bases. The foliage is poisonous,
even in small quantities, to cattle and other
herbivourous animals. This is especially true when
the foliage is wilted.
The tree flowers in the spring. Its flower spikes
are 4-6 inches long and droopy; the flowers small
and white. Fruits mature in early summer and are
smooth and nearly black. Each fruit contains a solitary
seed, surrounded by juicy, edible, dark-purple flesh.
The bark, gray-black and broken by interlacing
furrows, flakes off on old trees exposing an inner
bark that is reddish-brown.
The wood is excellent for working but few trees
large enough for lumber occur in Florida.
COMMON PERSIMMON
((Diospyros virginiana))
THE persimmon, often called "simmon," is a well-known tree throughout the southern United States. It is usually a medium-sized tree, rarely exceeding 60 feet in height and 18 inches in diameter, occurring throughout the State. It seems to prefer open, sandy woods, and is most abundant in old fields, though it occurs on hammock and rich bottomlands. The bark of old trees is almost black and separated into thick,
nearly square blocks, much like the black gum.
The leaves are alternate, oval, entire, three to six inches long, dark green and shining above, paler beneath.
The small flowers, which appear in May, are yellowish or cream-white, somewhat bell-shaped, the two kinds occurring on separate trees; the male in clusters of two or three, the female solitary. They are visited by many insects.
The fruit is a pulpy, round, orange-colored or brown berry, an inch or more in diameter and containing several flattened, hard, smooth seeds. It is strongly astringent while green, but often quite sweet and delicious when thoroughly ripe. It is much relished by children and by dogs, 'possums and other animals.
The wood is hard, dense, heavy, strong, the heartwood brown or black, the wide sapwood white or yellowish. It is particularly valued for shuttles, golf-stick heads, and similar special uses, but is not of suffcient commercial use to warrant its general encouragement as a timber tree.
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