Swamp

Now you are in the swamp. This flooded forest is made up of sweet bay and tupelo trees. The sweet bay has smooth bark and evergreen leaves. It is a magnolia relative and produces lovely ivory-colored flowers in summer. The tupelo is deciduous, that means it loses its leaves in winter. Tupelo flowers for a brief time in late spring. This is when beekeepers collect honey made from the trees’ nectar. The plants growing on the tree branches are called epiphytes. They are not parasites, they have their own roots that they use to cling to the branches. Most of the ones you can see are pineapple relatives called bromeliads. There are also ferns and orchids growing on the tree trunks. Keep an eye out for hawks in this part of the preserve!