Wet and wild: midway between Walt Disney World and the Kennedy Space Center lies a haven for Florida's natural delights

Many wildflowers in the habitat belong to the acanthus family, including branched foldwing, Carolina scalystem, Carolina wild petunia, loose-flower water willow, and swamp twinflower. Acanthuses are not rare in the United States, but usually no more than one or two species occur in any given habitat.

Open wet habitat Roadside ditches, marshy terrain, and small ponds provide habitats for numerous wetland plants. Sedges abound, including a large number of beak sedges, and there are several kinds of yellow-eyed grass, some short and slender, others stout and nearly three feet tall. The pipewort family, whose plants put forth a single flower head on one stem, is well represented by three kinds of pipeworts, at least two kinds of bog-buttons, and one species of hatpins. Numerous species of arrowheads and bladderworts occur.

Savanna By definition, a savanna is a grassy habitat with scattered trees. But the trees that grow here--dwarf live oak and running oak--are shrubby species that often grow no more than a foot tall. Other plants include black-root, two tiny-leaved species of blueberry, blueflower butterwort, early blue violet, fringed yellow stargrass pineweeds, pink sundew, queen's-delight, semaphore thoroughwort, and small butterwort.

Robert H. Mohlenbrook is professor emeritus of plant biology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

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