If you are from the northern US, our oak trees will not be familiar to you. The oaks at CHEC have leaves are much smaller and generally oval shaped, an adaptation to conserve water during dry times. There are several species of live oaks and one of the most common is the Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) which can be seen here. It is the iconic sprawling tree of the South. It is considered evergreen, shedding old leaves in the spring just after the new ones emerge. Oaks are the keystone species in the Oak Hammock that we will see patches of as we continue on the trail. Their size and foliage limits the light that gets to the ground resulting in a much more sparse understory.
Acorns, which are the fruit of the oaks, are highly nutricious food and were ground into flour by the Native Americans. The ground under oaks and at other places along the trail is often disturbed by feral hogs looking for acorns. These are the decendants of livestock brought to Florida by the Spanish colonizers and they do a lot of damage.
Up in the branches of these Southern Live Oaks you can see Spanish Moss and two other species of Bromiliads (Air Plants). The Southern Needleaf (Tillandsia setosa) has very thin leaves. The flowers and seed pods are on long stems. The picture shows the purple flower. Ball Moss (Tillandsia recurvata), like Spanish Moss, is a flowering plant, not a moss. The leaves grow in groups of two across from eachother as seen in the picture and the flowers also are produceds on long stems. The fuzzy texture of Ball Moss is much like Spanish Moss.
