Pine Rockland
The pine rockland community canopy is dominated almost exclusively by South Florida slash pine (Pinus elliotti var. densa). Beneath this canopy lies a rich understory composed of grasses, sedges, palms, vines, and shrubs of temperate and tropical origin, such as broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus), coontie (Zamia integrifolia), fivepetal leaf-flower (Phyllanthus pentaphyllus), Florida bluestem (Andropogon floridanus), Florida clover ash (Tetrazygia bicolor), Florida Keys noseburn (Tragia saxicola), Pineland Snakeherb (Dyschoriste angusta), Pineland spurge (Euphorbia pinetorum), silver bluestem (Bothriochloa saccharoides), and Beyrich threeawn (Aristida beyrichiana). The pine rockland community is South Florida’s most floristically diverse plant community and includes several endemic species. A subclimatic community, pine rocklands have depended on wildfire to keep them from transitioning into hardwood hammocks.
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Famous quotes containing the word pine:
“Strange that so few ever come to the woods to see how the pine lives and grows and spires, lifting its evergreen arms to the light,—to see its perfect success; but most are content to behold it in the shape of many broad boards brought to market, and deem that its true success! But the pine is no more lumber than man is, and to be made into boards and houses is no more its true and highest use than the truest use of a man is to be cut down and made into manure.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)