Jean Craighead George

PREFACE

AMERICA'S SUBTROPICAL WONDERLAND

PLANT-AND-ANIMAL COMMUNITIES

DISCOVERING EVERGLADES PLANTS AND ANIMALS

INDIANS OF THE EVERGLADES

Appendix

Handbook 143

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Transcriber's Notes

Handbook 143

Everglades Wildguide

by Jean Craighead George
Illustrations by Betty Fraser

The Natural History of Everglades National Park, Florida

Produced by the
Division of Publications
National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C. 1988

About This Book

Here is the story of the plants and animals of the Everglades, this country’s subtropical kingdom. Plants and animals found nowhere else in the 50 states are found here in abundance, though in an increasingly perilous state. In this handbook, first published in 1972, author and researcher Jean Craighead George brings to the telling of this story long years of study and understanding. Checklists and glossaries at the back buttress her account of the natural history of this national park.

National Park Handbooks, compact introductions to the great natural and historic places administered by the National Park Service, are published to support the National Park Service’s management programs at the parks and to promote understanding and enjoyment of the parks. Each is intended to be informative reading and a useful guide before, during, and after a park visit. More than 100 titles are in print. This is Handbook 143. You may purchase the handbooks through the mail by writing to Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Library of Congress card number: 73-600077

ISBN 0-912627-29-8

★GPO: 1987—181-917/60504

Preface vii

America’s Subtropical Wonderland 1

Pine Rockland 7

Tree-Island Glades 12

Mangrove Swamp 16

Florida Bay and the Coastal Prairie 21

Big Cypress Swamp 26

Plant-and-Animal Communities 29

Tropical Hardwood Hammock 30

Cypress Head 35

Bayhead 38

Willow Head 40

Web of Life in the Marsh 42

Alligator Hole in the Glades 45

Discovering Everglades Plants and Animals 49

Air Plants 52

Mammals 59

Birds 64

Reptiles and Amphibians 70

Fishes 72

Animals without Backbones 75

Indians of the Everglades 77

Appendix 80

Glossary 81

For Reading and Reference 84

Rare and Endangered Animals 86

Checklist of Mammals 87

Checklist of Birds 88

Checklist of Reptiles and Amphibians 96

Checklist of Trees 98