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sandy hammocks, open prairies and hardwood forests. A region of rolling sandy pine woods
extends from Georgia, through the heart of the peninsula into south Florida. Along the Gulf
coast, from St. Marks to Tarpon Springs, is the great Gulf Hammock, with many large hardwood
forests and swamps. The lake region running through the heart of Florida from Clay County to
Highlands County, is a ridge-like sandy area, with evergreen oaks, high pinelands and high
hardwood hammocks.

Spreading over the northeast corner of the State, are the east Florida flat pinewoods, with
countless shallow cypress ponds and swamps, slash, shortleaf, black and longleaf pine.

Joining with the east Florida flatwoods on the east, the hammock and lime-sink regions
on the west, and divided in the middle by the lake region, progressing south toward the
Everglades, are the south Florida flatwoods, closely resembling the forests of northeast Florida.

The Everglades, with its profuse tropical flora, ranges between the coasts, from below a
belt of treeless prairies north of Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay. Here are enormous stands of
cypress and palm-covered islands encircled by open, inundated areas covered with cowgrass.

In the western part, the Gulf coast presents bulwarks of mangrove and buttonwood, and
jungles of live oak, magnolia, mahogany, ash, maple and holly. Great hammocks of cypress and
Caribbean pine lie to the north. The stately royal palm is found in abundance to the south.

Ranging inland from the east, are expanses of grass, lilies, and other aquatic plants, broken by
jungles of cabbage palmetto. In the heart of the island jungles, almost inaccessible, are luxuriant
growths of wild flowers, ferns, moss, orchids, and vines. Tropical palms and