The boardwalk trail continues across and along the wet prairie. It is really a type of marsh dominated by grasses, sedges, and rushes, with sand cordgrass being the most common.

The time it is flooded during a year is relatively short compared to other wetland habitats. It is slightly lower in elevation than the pine flatwood, and a combination of nutrient-poor soils, fire, and flooding help keep this grass-dominated prairie from becoming a pine flatwood or a cypress swamp.

During the spring dry-down, herons, egrets and ibis forage in the grasses while hawks hunt at the edge of the pond cypress. Wood storks should be soaring overhead, and listen for the occasional sand hill crane closer to the pine flatwood.

As the summer rains begin, deer move into the prairie to feed on the fresh growth, and the resonating calls of frog choruses fill the air. Look for swallow-tailed kites skimming the tops of the pine trees searching for food.

During the fall when water levels are at their highest, alligators may be seen moving throught the grasses, and a variety of mammals cross the prairie, frequently using the boardwalk, to reach the ripening berries and figs in the cypress forests.

 Wet Prairie

Salt Marsh Mallow   Great Egret

Skyflowers Swamp Sparrow Banded Water Snake

Wood Stork Blue Skimmer Floating Hearts

White-tailed Deer Water Lily   Continue along the boardwalk to the Pond Cypress by clicking the arrow

Tour intro | Pine Flatwood | Wet Prairie | Pond Cypress | Bald Cypress Forest | Central Marsh | Lettuce Lakes | Blair Center