Guzmania bromeliads

Guzmania, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

“There are still remnants of the old wild Florida. There is always something. Anytime. Day or night, cold or warm, in the rain or shining sun you can find bits of the old wild left around, if you can only get away from your fellow man for a spell.”
~ Archie Carr (Professor, herpetologist, ecologist, author, and conservationist)

And one way to rediscover the old wild Florida is to trek through the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve Park, also christened “the Amazon of North America.” Fakahatchee is a forested watershed of cypress and mixed hardwoods. Once logged heavily for its large stands of cypress, the swamp is crisscrossed with raised railroad beds. Constructed in the early and mid-1900s, the rails and ties are long gone, but the raised pathways remain. Some of these pathways are cleared for trails, while others are completely overgrown with vegetation.

On my visit to the Fakahatchee as part of the Plein Air Arts outing March 19th, we walked one of these trails and waded through the slough that paralleled the raised tram road. Leaving the trail is almost magical: the rich brown waters of the slough were cool and inviting, the canopy of newly emerged cypress needles and popash leaves were a light-filled delicate green-gold.

Entering a small clearing of popash and pond apple rimming the water, we came on a fairyland of Guzmania bromeliads growing on every available tree. Guzmania monostachia is an endangered bromeliad native to South Florida, found nowhere else in the United States. I can’t imagine coming across this hidden glade filled with blooms – what a sight that would be!

According to presentation by Daniel Austin at a 1986 Florida Native Plant conference, the word “Fahkahatchee” first appeared on a military map in 1856 created during the Second Seminole War. Various meanings of the names’ origin have been suggested: from the Muskogee words for “muddy creek” or the Miccosukee name for “forked river.”

The Fakahatchee strand is a long linear wetland, about 20 miles long north to south, and 3 to 5 miles wide. Its unique ecosystems contain an abundance of trees: stately royal palms, bald and pond cypress, pond apple, strangler fig, laurel oak, willows, popash, and red maple, just to name a few. Many types of plants flourish here: orchids, ferns, bromeliads, cocoplum, peperomias, and poison ivy, just to name a few more. Fakahatchee is home to many types of birds and mammals, including the Florida black bear and Florida panther, mangrove fox squirrel, and Everglades mink.

For more information about the Fakahatchee, please visit these links;
Florida State Parks
Friends of the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve
Wikipedia

You can also click on the caption of the top image to view it larger on my Flickr photostream.

Copeland Baptist Church

Copeland Baptist Church, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

I was invited to attend a sketch outing at Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve near Copeland, Florida, and the first place we visited was the historic church at Copeland. Copeland is a small community (population just under 300) nestled against the edge of the Preserve. During our visit, we were treated to a tour of the interior and a brief history of the church and area by Reverend John Gilmore. The church was built in 1947 of local cypress during the peak of the logging period, closing briefly when logging declined in the 50’s.


After lunch, we joined a scout troop for a swamp walk at the Preserve through some of the most beautiful sloughs and hammocks in Florida. I wasn’t able to sit down and sketch, but I brought back reference photos for the future! This was part of the Arts in the Preserve – En Plein Air event for March. You can read about the upcoming get-together for April by clicking on the “Events” tab at the top of my blog under the masthead. A warm thank you to Amy, Kathryn, and Karen for sharing their creativity that morning, and a BIG thank you to Karen, a park ranger at Fakahatchee, who organized the event and shared her knowledge of flora and fauna. It was a beautiful day!

You can click on the caption above to view it on my Flickr photostream.

Seagrape leaf

Seagrape leaf, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

In the spring, the combination of cold temperatures and dry conditions cause the occasional leaf on the seagrape tree to turn the most vivid colors. I read somewhere that the circular and sometimes heart-shaped leaves turn red around Valentine’s Day, and that people have turned the brightly colored leaves into natural valentines, scratching or writing verses and sentiments right onto the leaf itself. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it’s a charming thought!

If you’d like to read more about our tropical seagrape tree, please visit my previous post here.  This is another one that describes drawing a sea grape leaf and foreshortening.

Thank you, too, for all of your get-well thoughts and wishes!

You can click on the caption under the image to view it in different sizes on my Flickr photostream.

Other references of interest:

Tropilab, an exotic importer

The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

A short absence…

I suppose one could say that so far 2011 has NOT been my year. Instead of exploring the fascinating outdoor world of Southwest Florida, I’ve been off on medical adventures. Somehow this phrase is easier to process than the facts of pneumonia, anemia, and bleeding ulcers!


The good news is that I am mending quickly, though my drawing excursions have been limited. The next few posts will probably be found nature objects that I can bring inside. I am planning to take part in Art in the Fakahatchee – en plein air in the Preserve coming up in the next two weeks. If you are interested, please click on the Events tab on this blog when published.

Thank you for visiting, and know that I appreciate your support and comments!