As we move along the trail, notice that the vegetation rapidly changes from dense oaks to sparse grasses and sedges to rather green. Coinvine, with its small white flowers and flat, round seeds starts to pop up, quickly becoming abundant. Keep walking and there are trees overhead. we're now in a tropical hardwood hammock, the second of the three natural habitats within Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area. It's small, about 5.3 acres. Be on the look out for a tree with a blotchy brown, orange and black trunk. This is poisonwood, a relative of poison ivy, and you do not want to touch it! Weird but true: the berries poisonwood produces are a favorite food of the threatened white-crowned pigeon and other birds and animals. NEXT STOP: Mangrove Mazes and the Indian River.
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