GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 91

 HERBS
 Tillandsia usneoides Spanish moss On trees
 Aristida stricta Wire-grass Pine lands
-Cladiumn effusum Saw-grass Wet prairies, etc.
Pterocaulon unduLatum Black-root Flatwoods
Juncus Roemerianus (Rush) Brackish marshes
Sagittaria lancifolia Wet prairies, etc.
Iris versicolor (Blue flag) Wet prairies, etc.
Tillandsia tenuifolia Air-plant Low hammocks, etc.
(Eupatorium capillifolium) Dog-fennel Low prairies, etc.
Saururus cernuus Rich swamps
Spartina Bakeri Switch-grass Around prairies, etc.
(Piaropus crassipes) Water-hyacinth Lakes and runs
Carphephorus corymbosus Flatwoods
Pontederia cordata Wampee Ponds and swamps
Nymphaea macrophylla Bonnets Ponds and streams
Mesosphaerum rugosum Marly flatwoods, etc.
Polypodium polypodioides (A fern) On trees in hammocks
Rhynchospora miliacea (A sedge) Low hammocks
Mitchella repens Turkey-berry Hammocks
Pistia spathulata *Water-lettuce Calcareous streams
Senecio lobatus Rich swamps
Tubiflora Carolinensis Low hammocks
 About 75% of the large trees and shrubs, but not so many of
 the small trees and vines, are evergreen.
 Fisheries. The shallow rock-bottomed waters of the Gulf adjacent to this region afford a favorable habitat for many kinds of fish. Besides the ordinary commercial fisheries, the region is visited in winter by many persons from outside the state who fish for sport. Homosassa is a favorite winter resort for Georgia fishermen. The sponges brought in to Cedar Keys and Tarpon Springs (which are in other regions) must also be counted among the submarine resources of the Gulf hammock region. The bird guano industry is described in the chapter on animals.
 Population. This region does not cover enough of Levy, Citrus, Hernando and Pasco Counties to enable us to get any accurate statistics of the coastal portion from census reports, but the portion along the Withlacoochee River is approximately coextensive with Sumter County. Previous to 1887, when it was reduced to its presentsize, that county included a considerable part of the lake region also, so that census returns from it for earlier periods have little geographical value. The number of inhabitants per squaremile increased gradually from 9.1 in r89o to 14.1 in 1920. None of the population is classed as urban by the U. S. census, but 20.4% of the people were living in incorporated places at the time of the state census of 1915. In 1910 about 66% of the population was native white, 0.4% foreign white, and 33.7% of African descent. At the same time 3% of the native whites over io years old, none ot the foreign whites, and 26.9% of the negroes were unable to real and write.