The distance, by land, from Key West to Pensacola is neearly the same as that between New Orleans and Chicago. Botanists recognize more than 4200 unique plant species and eighty-one distinct biological communities in Florida, most notably such world-renowned hot spots as the Apalachicola Rivervalley, the Lake Wales Ridge, the Big Cypress Swamp, and the Everglades.
In Exploring Florida's Botanical Wonders expert hiker and award-winning author Sandra Friend provides readers with a travel guide that surveys the Sunshine State's spectacular botanical offerings. Organized by geographic region. Friend includes engaging descriptions of the plant communities at each site, as well as directions to and information about each location.
Within these pages, Friend highlights 250 of the most interesting sites in FlorIda, based on the age, density, or rarity of species found there, as well as provisions made for public access. Including natural areas as well as public botanical gardens, Exploring Florida's Botanical Wonders is ideal for the hardiest and the most timid nature lovers.
From ancient groves of oaks once preserved by President John Quincy Adams as an emergency supply of ship's timber to unusual communities of plants borne by the wind and the water from the Caribbean, Exploring Florida's Botanical Wonders reveals the real Florida at its most awe-inspiring.
Sandra Friend is the author of numerous books on outdoor Florida, including the 50 Hikes series, Along the Florida Trail, Hiker's Guide to the Sunshine State, and, with Johnny Molloy, The Hiking Trails of Florida's National Forests, Parks, and Preserves.
"The enchanted places in our state are sometimes hidden and not well known. Sandra Friend presents a collection of sites worthy of a pilgrimage in this descriptive quide."
- David Price, director, Bok Tower Gardens Foundation
"Sandra, writing as if I were talking with my best friend, infected me with her enthusiasm and her respect for our fragile Florida environment. Exploring Florida's Botanical Wonders should be required reading for anyone visiting or living in Paradise Florida"
- Connie Bransilver, author of Wild Love Affair: Essence of Florida's Native Orchids