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NATIVE IN THE CITY

INFORMATION ABOUT THE VALUE AND USE OF NATIVE PLANTS IN GARDENING

TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2008

Plants of the Okefenokee Swamp

“The prairies of the Okefenokee are gorgeous expanses of
flower-studded wilderness. The growls of hidden alligators,
piercing cries of sandhill cranes, and haunting cypress tress
draped in Spanish moss create a place of primeval beauty”
Writes Leslie Edwards for the Georgia Botanical Society.
“Land of the Trembling Earth” to Native Americans, this
unique ecosystem has been designated a National Wilderness
Area, and remains one of the oldest and best preserved
freshwater wetland areas in America. Download Video
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The water throughout the swamp is clear but stained the color AVI DVD MPG WMV
of iced tea by tannins and other products of decaying Téléchargez Video
vegetation. The result of this decay is to make the swamp extraordinarily acidic, with an average pH value of 3.7. Add to Converter
www.avs4you.com/AVS-Vide…
this low levels of nitrogen and phosphorous and it is hard to believe that the swamp supports roughly 600 species of
plants including pond cypress taxodium ascendens and bald cypress T. distichum.

Other trees found here include blackgum, loblolly-bay, sweet bay, and others. Carnivorous plants can be found in
abundance including the best known and most obvious Pitcher Plants. Three varieties are found including golden TwitThis
trumpet pitcher Sarracenia flava; the hooded pitcher plant, Sarracenia minor and the parrot pitcher plant Sarracenia Add to Technorati Favorites
psittacina. Sundews Drosera L, Butterworts Pinguicula L. and Bladderworts Utricularia L. are also common. Add me to your Delicious
network
Other plants to watch for include Golden Club Orontium aquaticum in the spring, Water Lilly Nymphaea odorata for its The Internet Public Library
fragrance, Climbing Heath, Pieris phillyreifolia, Spanish Moss Tillandsia usneoides (not a true moss, but an air plant)
and Southern Blue Flag Iris verginica.
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For more information about the Okefenokee, see the United States Fish & Wildlife Service website for the Okefenokee reddit

National Wildlife Refuge. According to this website, “the refuge, established in 1936, includes over 400, 000 acres of the
swamp, and an additional 350,000 acres in the interior designated a National Wilderness Area.
ABOUT ME AND NATIVE PLANTS

To plan a visit for this and other Georgia destinations, visit the Sherpa Guides website. Kay Stephenson is a transplant to
Georgia from the St. Lawrence
POSTED BY KAY STEPH EN SON AT 8 : 4 0 AM
River valley of New York. An avid
gardener, she served on the board
of the Georgia Native Plant
0 COMMENTS: Society and advocates for the use
of native plants through several
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other park and greenspace
Newer Post Home Older Post organizations like Piedmont Park
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Conservancy. Georgia Gardening
has published several of her
articles. In the interest of full
disclosure, her own gardens are
not exclusively native, but she is
working on it.
A freelance writer and fiber artist,
Kay lives in Atlanta, Ga with her
husband, Mark, and her dog,
Lady.

GEORGIA GARDENING MAGAZINE

ARTICLES

A Tree Grows In Atlanta

Historic Oakland
Native in the City
On Becoming a Native Plant
Gardener
Creating a Garden in the Woods
Georgia Gardening Magazine Link

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USEFUL LINKS AND RESOURCES

Forestry Images - UGA & USDA

Forest Service
USDA Plants Database
Georgia Native Plant Society
Invasive Plants of the Eastern
United States
Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council