Lettuce Lake

John G. and Susan H. Dupuis Wildlife and Environmental Area, Canal Point, Martin County


lake covered in water lettuce
Drive to the end of Dupuis's main road and you'll come to this scene. Believe it or not it's a borrow pit lake, and the view is from a fishing pier. The mass of green is water lettuce, which some argue that it's an invasive, while others say it's native. Regardless, it's completely choked this place, which probably means bad things for any plants or animals attempting to make a living under it. When we visited several years ago, the lake was open from one end to the other, and an alligator could be seen swimming about. Now it looks like you could walk across it, the water lettuce is so thick. Of course, you can't .

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Published by Wild South Florida, PO Box 7241, Delray Beach, FL 33482.
Photographs by David Sedore. Photographs are property of the publishers and may not be used without permission.