Riverbend Park - Jupiter FL
(I am using a larger print to make it easier for me to read and write...anyone else with me on this? D)
Riverbend Park is a beautiful 665-acre multi-use park. We biked along well-packed walking/bike paths passing, what I call "the jungle", wetlands, river, canals and ponds. It is also home to the Loxahatchee Battlefield, the site of the Second Seminole Indian War. It did not turn out well for the Seminole people, but they never did sign a peace treaty with the US government. More on this in the next post.
Loxahatchee River in Riverbend Park
Chickee is the Seminole word for house. The chickee style of building with cypress logs and palmetto thatch was used during the early 1800s when the Seminoles were pursued by the US army and they needed quick housing. This type of construction has become popular for tiki huts.
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| Wild coffee |
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| Chickee hut or tiki hut? |
It may be hard to see what an amazing growth pattern this tree has, but it is a strangler fig that started as an epiphyte (air plant) and overtook and consumed its host tree. It is known for putting down "prop trunks" to support its huge spreading branches. That's me under the tree. D
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| Banyan tree |
The Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge has both freshwater and saltwater habitats of coastal dunes and beach on Jupiter Island and sand pine scrub and hammocks on the mainland. We went on a guided walk with a volunteer who pointed out the following plant life.
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| Lichen and moss |
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| Epiphyte |
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| Saw Palmetto |
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| Wild Mint |
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Gatorback Saw Palmetto-
It's trunk lies horizontally along the ground and can look like a "gator" |
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