YOU MAY USE THIS BOOKLET FREE
BUT IF YOU TAKE IT HOME, PLEASE LEAVE 10¢
1.. WATER PLANTS -- roadside viewpoint and exhibit on some of the distinctive plants in and near the sloughs and ponds.
2. LEATHER FERN -- These enormous ferns are the largest found in south Florida and are common in hammocks, near ponds and sloughs, and in some mangrove areas. Their name comes from the appearance of the underside of the leaves which when covered with tiny spore cups, resembles suede. Leather ferns can reach a height of 12 - 14 feet.
3. FISH -- roadside viewpoint with exhibit on common fresh water fish of the Park.
4. COCOPLUM -- These shrubs with round deep green leaves are widespread in the glades, and are also found in the West Indies, Africa, and Brazil. They develop plum-like fruits, either dark purple or white when ripe. Although the fruit is of insipid flavor, the seed inside tastes like an almond anQ contains a mild narcotic which can allay hunger or thirst.
5. OTTER CAVE -- short trail and exhibit on interesting rock formation.
6. BUTTERFLIES -- exhibit on some of the Park butterflies.
7. SEASONS roadside viewpoint and exhibit on the seasonal cycle of weather and wildlife.
8. PICKEREL WEED -- A rather low-growing water plant with broad arrowhead leaves is the pickerel weed, sometimes called blue flag. A social plant, growing in colonies, it is related to the troublesome water hyacinth, but does not have the unfortunate properties of that plant. The flowers of pickerel weed are purple spikes of blooms.
9. BIRDS -- roadside viewpoint and exhibit on common birds of the area.
10. CATTAIL -- These are familiar marsh plants found throughout the United States. The brown "cattail" is the flowerspike. The roots are rich in starch and used as food by muskrats. The leaves are used in making cane bottom chairs and mats; the dried flowerspike is sought for winter boquets. Many parts of the plants are edible; the roots, the young flowerspikes, the pollen from male spikes and the early spring shoots.
11. TURTLES -- roadside viewpoint with exhibit on common Park turtles.
12. FIRE FLAG -- Also called Thalia. A tropical and subtropical member of the arrowroot family, these plants are related to bananas, cannas, and ginger. They are typical swamp plants in the South and are sometimes cultivated as ornamentals. They have lovely large purple flowers in fall.
13. DEER -- White tailed deer are common residents of the glades and are often seen along this road. Particularly at dusk, deer may be seen feeding near the edge of a hammock or crossing the road. They do not eat the saw grass, but other plants growing among it. These are the same species of deer found in much of eastern United States. Here they never reach as great a size as their more northerly cousins. The famous diminutive "Key deer" are not found in Everglades National Park.
14. ALLIGATOR -- roadside viewpoint and exhibit on life history and habits of alligators.
15. PINNACLE ROCK --This is an example of the limestone substrata of the glades. Walking in this is difficult, to say the least. Pinnacles are formed by erosion, the remnants of a once existing strata of rock, worn away by water and carbonic acid. • It is virtually impossible to take a wheeled vehicle over this rock.
16. EVERGLADES -- The vast flat tree-clump dotted area you see as you drive this road is typical everglades. "Ever-glades" means an open grassy area reaching forever. During the summer wet season, these glades are under several inches of water. The everglades of Florida extend all the way from Lake Okeechobee south. The Park contains only a portion of them.
17. SAWGRASS -- A legend of this country says that when the sawgrass blooms there will be a hurricane.
Every year the sawgrass blooms, and every year there is a hurricane -- somewhere. Sawgrass is not a true grass but a sedge, having a square rather than a round stem. These plants can reach a height of 10 - 12 feet; here they are considerably shorter, lacking the rich soil necessary for greater height. Sawgrass is so named because the blade of the leaf has tiny saw-like teeth along the edge.
18. BA.YHEADS -- Most of the little clumps of trees dotting the glades are called bayheads. These islands contain one or more species of bay trees, and such other plants as poisonwood, myrsine, wax myrtle, holly and occasionally cabbage palm.
Bayheads develop on slight elevations in the topography. The plants in them are typical of swamp forests of the southeast.
19. MAMMALS -- roadside viewpoint and exhib�t on some of the smal1 mammals of the Park area.
20. CRAYFISH HOLES AND SURVIVAL -- In the wet season, the fresh water crayfish dig for themselves in the muck, holes wltich may ext�nd· down into the porous oolite for quite a distance. In the dry periods they retreat into these holes to survive and remain moist. It has recently been discover0.d that many other small creatures
share these "digs". Frogs, fish, invertebrates �lso survive a drought through the providence of the crayfish.
21. RIVER OF GRASS -- Marjory Stoneman Douglas
''Where the grass and the water are, there is the heart, the current, the meaning of the everglades ....the mystery of the everglades is the sawgrass, so simple, so enduring, so hostile.....it made the solitudes that hold in them the secrets of time, which has moved here so long unmarked."
