Another beautiful post at Serenity Spell! Everyone thinks of palms and beaches in Florida but for me the Oak Hammock is what I think of as being most essentially here, home, Florida. I think they are some of the most beautiful places on Earth.
There was some synchronous discussion during a *hammock* ecosystem reference in one of my recent posts … I’m so accustomed to these habitats, that I forget to detail their wonderful qualities!
From the National Park Service’s perfectly phrased definition of a hardwood hammock on their Everglades page:
A hardwood hammock is a dense stand of broad-leafed trees that grow on a natural rise of only a few inches in elevation. Hammocks can be found nestled in most all other Everglades ecosystems. In the deeper sloughs and marshes, the seasonal flow of water helps give these hammocks a distinct aerial teardrop shape.
Many tropical species such as mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni), gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), and cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) grow alongside the more familiar temperate species of live oak (Quercus virginiana), red maple (Acer rubum), and hackberry (Celtis laevigata). This diverse assemblage of plant life supports an equally diverse array of…
View original post 127 more words
Spirit In Action 
January 22, 2013 at 10:37 am
Ah, ditto, ditto, ditto… I actively seek out the hammocks and swamps — if people could see this beauty in person, they’d be awed. It’s breathtaking every single time I hike it.