Captain Forster Hammock Preserve Hike

The 2024 Volunteer Nature Stewardship Class took a stroll along the main trail at the Captain Forster Hammock Preserve on Jthe beautiful afternoon of January 28 from the parking lot on historic Jungle Trail to the coastal strand/Atlantic Ocean. The side trails were still soggy from unusual winter rains.

The focus of the walk was on common hammock plants. We saw lots of magnificent live oaks (Quercus virginiana), the dominant canopy tree …

… and cabbage palm trees (Sabal palmetto) shown below with a strangler fig (Ficus aureum) growing in its old leafstems (“boots”) …

… and cabbage palm fern (Phlebodium aureum) growing lushly and epiphytically on it …

… and with another epiphytic fern, shoestring fern (Vittaria linneata) …

.We saw another native palm, saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), growing on higher drier ground …

Understory plants included marlberry (Ardisia escallonioides) with unripe fruits …

… beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) with lots of magenta fruits …

… and wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa) in fruit …

These plants are commonly found in hammocks throughout Indian River County. We saw lots of other plants, too …