Plant community of Florida, US
Cypress dome in Everglades National Park
The South Florida cypress dome is a forested wetland plant community found in southern Florida, mostly in and around the Everglades and the Big Cypress National Preserve . They form in shallow depressions whose impervious substrates hold standing water for several months of the year.[ 1]
Although the center of the depression is its deepest part, it is also where trees are the tallest and oldest. This gives these swamps a dome-like appearance and also their name. The stagnant water in the depressions is highly acidic.[ 1]
Pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens ) is the most common tree in cypress domes. It is joined by the subtropical shrubs pond-apple (Annona glabra ), cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco ), and swamp bay (Persea palustris ). Herbaceous plants include giant red bacopa (Bacopa caroliniana ). The strangler fig (Ficus aurea ) and the ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii ) are also found here.[ 1]
It is distinguished from the similar southern coastal plain nonriverine cypress dome by the presence of tropical understory species.[ 1]
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See also