American Holly

​Ilex opaca
American Holly is a small slow-growing tree that grows in moist well-drained soil and tolerates partial shade. Lower leaves have sharp spikes to deter grazing by deer.
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American Holly

Broomgrass Bluestem

Andropogon virginicus
This native perennial grass has deep roots and is drought resistant. It provides food and nesting cover for birds and other wildlife.
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Broomgrass Bluestem

Spanish Bayonet

Yucca aloifolia
Spanish Bayonet has sharp-pointed leaves, and bell-shaped white flowers in the summer. It is salt and drought-resistant, growing on sandy soils. It produces large sweet fruits that were used by Native Americans.
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Spanish Bayonet

Salt Grass

Distichlis spicata
Salt Grass is a salt-tolerant perennial grass that can withstand frequent saltwater inundation. It excretes salt through its leaves that crystallizes and can then be washed away. Salt grass provides food and habitat for many birds, insects, fiddler crabs and small mammals.
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Salt Grass

Sabal Palm

Sabal palmetto
​Sabal Palm, also know as Cabbage Palm, is the state tree of Florida.  It is a sturdy palm that grows to 60 feet tall. They are cold and brackish water tolerant.  They provide food and nesting for birds, reptiles and mammals.
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Sabal Palm

Saltwort

Batis maritima
Saltwort is a salt-tolerant plant growing where frequently inundated by high tides.  Saltwort is edible. It can be used as a salty soup herb.
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Saltwort

Coral Bean

Erythrina herbacea
Coral Bean is a thorny deciduous shrub with striking red tubular flowers that attract Hummingbirds.  The black pods contain poisonous red seeds.
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Coral Bean

Saltbush

​Baccaris halmifolia
Saltbush is a native shrub that is salt and drought-tolerant. Its small white flowers provide late-season nectar for pollinators like Monarchs.
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Saltbush

Slash  Pine

Pinus elliotti
Slash Pine is a fast-growing native in Florida. It has long needles in clusters of 2-3, and scaly bark. Slash pine was planted extensively in the Lower Suwannee Refuge for timber and for naval stores.
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Slash Pine

Cat-Faced Slash Pine

Pinus elliotti
This 'cat-faced' tree along the Dennis Creek trail is one of the last remaining trees that was slashed to extract sap.  Diagonal slashes in the bark directed the sap into a ceramic 'Yerty cup' nailed to the tree.  The  sap was collected to make turpentine and pine tar. 
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Cat-Faced Slash Pine

Coontie

Zamia integrifolia
Coontie is Florida's only native cycad plant. The root and its bright orange seeds are toxic to people and pets.  Native Americans used the root to make starch.
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Coontie

Red Cedar

Juniperus virginiana var. silicola
This variety of Eastern Red Cedar grows from coastal North Carolina, through Florida along the Gulf Coast to Texas, often near salt water. Once  harvested around Cedar Key to make blanks for pencils, it provides food and habitat for many species of birds.
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Red Cedar

Live Oak

Quercus virginiana
Live Oak is a majestic evergreen oak tree known for its wide-spreading canopy often draped with Spanish moss. Its strong rot-resistant wood was used for ship building. It provides food and habitat for many wildlife species.
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Live Oak

Inkberry

Ilex glabra
Inkberry is a common native holly species found throughout Florida. It has small evergreen leaves and produces black berries eaten by birds and other wildlife.
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Inkberry

Purselane

Sesuvium portulacastrum
​Sea Purselane is a succulent mat-forming salt-tolerant native to Florida's coastal salt marshes, dunes and mangrove edges. Purselane is edible and good on salads.
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Purselane

Yaupon Holly

Ilex vomitoria
​Yaupon holly is an evergreen shrub native to coastal and inland scrub in Florida. It has toxic red berries but the leaves can be used to make caffenated tea.
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Yaupon Holly

Wax Myrtle

Myrica cerifera
​ Wax myrtle also known as Southern Bayberry is  a native  evergreen shrub or small tree that is drought and salt tolerant. Small white flowers bloom in the spring. Female plants produce clusters of gray-blue waxy berries that provide food for birds and can be used to make candles.
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Wax Myrtle

Shiny Blueberry

Vaccinium myrsinites
Shiny blueberry is a low evergreen shrub native to Florida pine flatwoods, sand hills and scrub habitats. It flowers heavily in the spring an produces edible berries that are eaten by birds, turtles, other wildlife and people.
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Shiny Blueberry

Sand Live Oak

Quercus geminata
Sand Live Oak is a gnarly evergreen tree native to the southeastern U.S. coastal plain. It lives in sandy soils and is drought and salt-tolerant. It has distinctive leathery canoe-shaped leaves.  Many wildlife species eat the acorns.

Magnolia

Magnolia grandifolia
Magnolia are large evergreen trees native throughout Florida. The they grow to 90 feet tall and bloom with large fragrant white flowers in the spring.
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Magnolia

Musclewood

Carpinus caroliniana
Musclewood, also called Blue Beech or American Hornbeam, is a small native tree with smooth gray sinewy muscle-like bark. It grows in partially shaded areas often near water. Its wood is very hard and can be used to make brooms and tool handles.
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Musclewood

Devil's Walking Stick

Aralia spinosa
Devil's Walking Stick is a deciduous fast-growing very spiny shrub native to Florida. It produces large white flowers and berries eaten by birds. Its large compound leaves look tropical but don't grab the spiny stems!
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Devil's Walking Stick

Red Maple

Acer rubrum
Red maple is a native tree that grows to about 40 feet in moist areas. Its leaves turn red in the fall. Bright red winged seeds called samaras grow in the early spring. Many wildlife species eat the seeds.
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Red Maple

Red Bay

Persea borbonia
Red Bay is a native shrub with spicy-smelling leaves used for cooking. It makes dark blue berries that feed wildife..
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Red Bay

Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum
Bald Cypress is a large deciduous conifer native to the southeastern U.S. It thrives in river floodplains with characteristic buttressed trunks and "knees" that grow upward from the roots in wet areas. Its rot-resistant wood is highly valued. Once the dominant tree in the Suwannee River floodplain, logging removed nearly all of the large cypress trees.
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Bald Cypress

Loblolly Pine

Loblolly Pine
Loblolly Pine is a fast-growing commercially valuable evergreen native to the southeastern U.S. for lumber and paper production. It has long needles in bundles of three and rough scaly fire-resistant bark.
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Loblolly Pine

Epiphytes:

Tillandsia spp.
Tillandsia is a genus of native perennial "air" plants native to Florida.  They absorb water and nutrients through their leaves, not through roots.
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Tillandsia spp.

Longleaf Pine

Pinus palustris
Longleaf Pine is a long-lived pine species once common throughout the southeastern U.S.  It has very long lneedles in bundles of 3 and fire-resistant bark. Longleaf pine is being planted on the Refuge to restore the fire-dominated pine savanna ecosystem on the higher sandy areas.
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Longleaf Pine

Sweet Gum

Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweet gum is a native deciduous tree with star-shaped leaves and spiky fruits that are eaten by many species of wildlife. It produces a fragrant resin historically used for chewing gum. 
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Sweet Gum

Black Needlerush

Juncus gerardii
Black Needlerush is a native perennial rush  that lives in the salt marsh and spreads by rhizomes in the soil. Its leaves have sharp points. It is an important plant in the salt marsh, stabilizing shorelines, filtering water and providing habitat for fish and wildlife.
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Black Needlerush

Sawgrass

Cladium jamaicense
Sawgrass is a tall sedge that grows abundantly in Florida fresh and brackish salt marshes. It has sharp teeth on the edges of each blade. It is an important plant in salt marshes, producing huge amounts of biomass, stabilizing shorelines and providing habitat for fish and wildlife.
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Sawgrass

Saw Palmetto

Serenoa repens
Saw Palmetto is a slow-growing native fan palm with spiky fan-shaped leaves and sprawling growth habit. It grows in dense thickets on sandy soils and is salt-tolerant. It provides food and shelter for many wildlife species.
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Saw Palmetto
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Prickly Pear

Opuntia humifusa
Prickly pear is a native cactus found throughout Florida on dry sandy soils. It has large yellow flowers in spring and summer, producing red edible fruits.
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Prickly Pear

Christmas Lichen

Cryptothecia ubrocinta
​Christmas Lichen is a crust-like white and red growth on tree trunks consisting of algae and fungus that grow together. Its red and green colors give it its common name.
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Christmas Lichen

Dahoon Holly

Ilex cassine
​Dahoon Holly is a native evergreen shrub with glossy  green leaves and red berries that provide food for birds. It tolerates wet soils and some saltwater flooding.
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Dahoon Holly

Giant Sword Fern

Nephrolepsis biserrata
Giant Sword Fern is often found in wet shaded areas like the Suwannee River floodplain.
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Giant Sword Fern

Plant Template

Scientific Name
​Plant Description. 
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This plant also has beautiful flowers in the spring.
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This plant has a scientific name.
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