Exploring Florida’s Botanical Wonders: A Guide to the most Spectacular Botanical Sights in the state!

// April 23rd, 2010 // Florida, Florida History, Product Reviews

Botanical Wonders

The Monday meeting of the Florida Trail Association – Pinellas Chapter was a full house at Bill Jackson’s Sporting Goods as the crowd gathered to meet with and see Florida Hiking Expert and award winning author, Sandra Friend’s, presentation on her latest book, Exploring Florida’s Botanical Wonders.

The audience was captivated by the pictures of the wondrous flowers in the presentation as Sandy took us on a journey from the western most edge of the panhandle, down the Florida Peninsula, into the wilds of the Everglades, and then out to the Florida Keys. The diversity of flora in Florida is only surpassed by California and Hawaii in the fifty states.

Botanical Wonders leads you to the Largest Oak Tree in Florida, to the soggy bogs that produce fields of rare Carnivorous plants, to where the ancient Giant Cypress trees are hidden, to the special Gardens that boast the largest diversity of passion flowers and palm trees, past the exotic Kapok tree, and to the rare endangered Torreya Trees. The state of Florida boasts eighty-one distinct biological communities more than 4,200 unique plants recognized by botanists. The state contains several world-renowned hot spots for flora, including the Apalachicola River valley, the Lake Wales Ridge, the Big Cypress Swamp, and the Everglades. Sandra includes engaging descriptions of the 250 selected plant communities, as well as directions to and pertinent information about each location. This book ranges from both natural areas as well as public botanical gardens, and is truely a guide for nature lovers of all ages.

It is truly a treasure to have all of this wondrous information compiled in one place!