Entrance to Pinewood orange trail

This location point is the main entrance of the Orange Trail of Pinewood. It seems intimidating at first so be aware of the surroundings you might stumble upon snakes or tree roots. So, watch your steps!

The ecosystem of this location is the Pine Flatwoods. This area is dominated by slash pine, saw palmetto, sabal palm, and mixed grasses. The first sight you will see is the burnt color of some barks of these pines due to prescribed fire. This is done to control woody vegetation that is overcrowding the pines. [1]

Pine flatwood provides important habitat for many wildlife species such as birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals (deers, squirrels, rabbits, etc). The pine trees are very important to the environment as well because they help absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

The Slash Pine Tree can be seen all over this wetland and a cool fact is that it can grow up to 120 feet tall and is part of the coniferous group of trees. Coniferous trees keep their leaves all year long and only shed the oldest leaves when new needles take their place. The pine's needles can grow 8-12 inches long, produce cones that are 2-6 inches in length, and have deep root systems [2]. These roots help clean the soil and water from pollutants.


Source:

[1] https://www.google.com/amp/s/mercury.postlight.com/amp%3furl=https://corkscrew.audubon.org/conservation/pine-flatwoods

[2] https://www.ourwetlandsfla.com/slash-pine-tree-sw-florida/