We spotted this small cypress dome swamp tucked between pine flatwoods in the background and a wet prairie in the foreground. The deciduous cypress, most likely pond, stand out from their evergreen slash pine neighbors because of their stark gray trunks and their lack of needles — the photo was taken in February. You might expect to find more cypress in Hungryland Slough Natural Area given its very wet nature, but really this was it. We suspect there could be more toward the interior of the natural area, but then we really haven't seen much cypress during our explorations of other parks and preserves within the historic Hungryland watershed. It's hard to say why these cypress established themselves here without getting a lot closer to the site itself, but we're guessing it's a Goldilocks spot, the water's too deep for the pines and the plants that typically inhabit wet prairies, but just right for the cypress to thrive here. Also note the shurbby vegetation around the cypress, which differentiates a marsh from a swamp. Next Photo.
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