Florida's Nature/Home

Glossary

Florida's Nature

Florida's trees, shrubs and vines in the wild & home landscaping.
More than 500 color photographs & accompanying descriptions of native and exotic plants, wildflowers, habitats & Florida landscape plants.

Native Plants

Plants that existed in Florida prior to the first European contact, occurring as part of the natural landscape & apart from human influence are considered native.

Exotic Plants

Many exotic plants found in the wild are "naturalized", a naturalized plant is any imported plant that persists in the wild on its own without being cultivated. Some pose major problems for Florida's ecosystems.

Introduced exotic plants account for an additional 1,300 + species that can be found in Florida's forests. There are two classifications for exotic plants in Florida, as set forth by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council.

Naturalized Exotic - are non-native plants persisting in nature apart from cultivation, without displacing native species or causing damage to Florida's habitats.

Invasive Exotic - There are 67 introduced plants in Florida that are considered invasive. These displace our native plants, damaging Florida habitats.

Florida Habitats

Seven major ecosystems are recognized in Florida, with as many as 82 distinct natural plant and animal communities.

With almost 8,000 lakes, 1,700 rivers & 1,197 miles of coastline, water or the lack of it has a major influence on the type of habitat found in Florida.

In combination with a relatively flat landscape, slight changes in elevation can cause pretty extreme changes in the type of habitat, in some places the desert-like conditions of Florida scrub habitat occur on the boundaries of marshes.

In 1991 flowers of the genus Coreopsis were designated as the Florida State Wildflower.

Tree, Shrub or Herb?

A tree is generally described as a single stemmed woody plant with a distinct canopy or crown & a height of 15 feet or more.

A shrub is also woody stemmed, usually with multiple stems or trunks which rarely or never exceed 13 - 15 feet. In some cases a plant can grow as a small tree or large shrub and are generally popular for landscape use because of this, Southern Wax myrtle is an example.

Herbaceous plants, or Herbs, are those with little or no woody growth & may be annual, bi-annual or perennial. These may have single or multiple stems and are usually less than 5 feet tall.

Many of Florida's wildflowers are herbaceous in form, these include vines and can be found in the wild flowering plants section of this website.

Here's to quiet rivers,

&

glistening marshes...

Florida offers a wide variety of outdoor activities from coast to coast. Surfing, diving, fishing, birding and boating to hiking or camping, opportunities to explore Florida's Nature abound!

With our great diversity of natural resources it's important that we preserve as much as possible, not only for ourselves but for future generations of residents and visitors alike.

Florida's environment faces daily challenges ranging from loss of natural habitat through over-development, altered natural water flows and invasive exotic species that threaten the very things that make Florida a great place to live and visit.

If you're interested in ongoing conservation / preservation efforts in Florida, sign up for the Florida Audubon Society e-mail newsletter. It's free, gives updates on current legislation and provides a means to contact lawmakers to voice your opinion on environmental issues.

Sincerely,
Ed

Copyright 2008 - 2010 Ed Weislo / Privacy Policy & Terms of Use / Site Map