Native Plants

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Friday - June 22, 2007

From: Buena Cista, VA
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Plants native to South Florida and the Caribbean
Answered by: Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

What are the plants native to South Florida and the Caribbean?

ANSWER:

There are a large number of plant species native to South Florida and the Caribbean. Too many, in fact, to even attempt to list in an email. Fortunately, there are some good online resources available to you as well as some published books for South Florida. Information regarding Caribbean native flora is more problematic.

The University of South Florida's Institute for Systematic Botany has created a very useful website, The Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants which is probably your best resource for information on South Florida plant species. Richard Wunderlin's Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida is an excellent written resource, though not strictly limited to South Florida.