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FLORIDA
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October 2006
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Click on any
photo to see a larger version
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2 of 3
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The opposite of a cypress head is a hardwood
hammock. Instead of colonizing wet
depressions, species such as gumbo limbo, tamarind, and strangler figs take
hold where their roots stay dry. On
slightly elevated limestone ridges, sometimes only inches higher than the
rainy-season water that spreads across the Glades, tree islands rise above
the surrounding sawgrass.
Along the thicket
that grows around the edges, acids from decaying vegetation dissolve the
limestone, forming moats that remain wet even in the dry season, thus
protecting the trees from fire.
These barriers of standing
water and open sawgrass also isolate populations of the beautiful Liguus tree
snail. Restricted to individual
hammocks, some snails have evolved patterns unique to their particular tree
island; overall, more than 60 different color varieties have been identified
in the Everglades.
Here’s a sampling
from a few of the hammocks we explored:
Snails aren’t the only creatures hanging around
hammocks:
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Brown Anole
Anolis sagrei
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Lubber Grasshopper
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Yellow Rat Snake
Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata
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