Scientific Note: Mesic-Xeric Species-Pairs In Peninsular Florida

A recent report (Ward and Taylor 1999) of the discovery on Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida, of a small population of tree-form gopher apple (Licania michauxii), was accompanied by brief mention of other woody species believed to have evolved from an arboreous habit in accommodation to the frequent fire regime of the xeric southern woodlands. Though the evolutionary derivation of these species pairs-one in mesic woodlands, the other in xeric sand pine scrub or high pine-may be intuitively obvious to many Florida observers, there appears to be no published statement calling attention to these relationships and to the implication they cast as to the origin of the coastal plain flora. It is apparent that a somewhat fuller commentary addressing these other species pairs is needed.