The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The ecosystem it forms is not presently found anywhere else on earth. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The Everglades experiences a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season. Throughout the 20th century, the Everglades suffered significant loss of habitat and environmental degradation.
Everglades National Park is an American national park that protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River. An average of one million people visit the park each year. Everglades is the third-largest national park in the contiguous United States after Death Valley and Yellowstone. UNESCO declared the Everglades & Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and listed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979, and the Ramsar Convention included the park on its list of Wetlands of International Importance in 1987. Everglades is one of only three locations in the world to appear on all three lists.
Diodia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The genus is found from southern and eastern United States, South America, Central America, Mexico, the West Indies and tropical Africa.
Calopogon tuberosus, the tuberous grass pink, is an orchid native to eastern North America.
Baptisia is a genus in the legume family, Fabaceae. They are flowering herbaceous perennial plants with pea-like flowers, followed by pods, which are sometimes inflated. They are native to woodland and grassland in eastern and southern North America. The species most commonly found in cultivation is B. australis.
Acoelorrhaphe is a genus of palms with single species Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, known as the Paurotis palm, Everglades palm or Madeira palm in English and cubas, tique, and papta in Spanish.
Spermacoce or false buttonweed is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 275 species found throughout the tropics and subtropics. Its highest diversity is found in the Americas, followed by Africa, Australia and Asia.
The indigenous people of the Everglades region arrived in the Florida peninsula of what is now the United States approximately 14,000 to 15,000 years ago, probably following large game. The Paleo-Indians found an arid landscape that supported plants and animals adapted to prairie and xeric scrub conditions. Large animals became extinct in Florida around 11,000 years ago. Climate changes 6,500 years ago brought a wetter landscape. The Paleo-Indians slowly adapted to the new conditions. Archaeologists call the cultures that resulted from the adaptations Archaic peoples. They were better suited for environmental changes than their ancestors, and created many tools with the resources they had. Approximately 5,000 years ago, the climate shifted again to cause the regular flooding from Lake Okeechobee that gave rise to the Everglades ecosystems.
The South Florida rocklands ecoregion, in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, occurs in southern Florida and the Florida Keys in the United States, where they would naturally cover an area of 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi). These forests form on limestone outcrops with very thin soil; the higher elevation separating them from other habitats such as coastal marshes and marl prairies. On mainland Florida, rocklands exist primarily on the Miami Rock Ridge, which extends from the Miami River south to Everglades National Park. South Florida rocklands are further divided into pine rocklands and rockland hammocks.
Carex fraseriana is a perennial member of the sedge family with the common name Fraser's sedge. It was the only species of the genus Cymophyllus before it was re-transferred to Carex.
Spermacoce remota, the woodland false buttonweed, is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America. It is naturalized in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, China (Guangdong), India, Sri Lanka, New Guinea, Mauritius and many other oceanic islands.
Spermacoce ovalifolia, the broadleaf false buttonweed, is a species of plants in the Rubiaceae. It is native to Mexico, Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and South America.
Spermacoce brachysepala, the West Indian false buttonweed, is a plant species in the Rubiaceae. It is native to Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Spermacoce keyensis, the Florida false buttonweed, is a species of plants in the family Rubiaceae, first discovered in the Florida Keys. It is found in southern Florida, Bahamas, and the extreme southern tip of Texas.
Spermacoce alata, the winged false buttonweed, is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae. It is widespread across the warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere and naturalized in many other parts of the world.
Spermacoce glabra, smooth false buttonweed, is a New World species of plants in the coffee family.
Spermacoce prostrata is a species of plants in the Rubiaceae. In the United States, it is widespread in Florida, with a few isolated populations in Alabama and Mississippi. The species is native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean (Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Turks & Caicos, the Lesser Antilles, and the Dutch and Venezuelan Antilles. It is also widespread in South America, found in every country except Chile. The species is reportedly naturalized in Hawaii, China, Japan, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Java.
Bulbophyllum pinelianum, the rat-tail orchid, is a species of orchid in the genus Bulbophyllum. It is widespread across southern Mexico, the West Indies, Central America and northern South America. It is also reported from Florida but apparently now extinct in that state.
Spermacoce verticillata, the shrubby false buttonweed, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae.
Poinciana was a planned community that was to be located along the Lostmans River in Monroe County, Florida.
