Big Cypress is speckled with low limestone outcrops, cut with shallow sloughs 1 to 2 feet deep, and dotted with ponds and wet prairies. As in the everglades, fire and water maintain the character of the plantlife in this swampy realm of sunlight and shadow. Also as in the everglades, a difference of a few inches in elevation creates different communities. Tropical hardwood hammocks grow on rocky outcrops. In the depressions arise bayheads and clumps of pond apple, pop ash, and willow. The larger baldcypress trees grow in shallow sloughs, which are usually surrounded by prairies of sawgrass and maiden cane growing on slightly higher land. Although the several different plant communities resemble those in the glades, they support slightly different plants, because of the sandy soil (there being more quartz in the limestone under Big Cypress than in the park). These baldcypresses, many measuring 3 to 6 feet in diameter, were heavily lumbered from 1930 to 1950. Today, few giant trees survive, but a sizable stand exists on the Norris Tract—so named for its conservation-minded donor—which forms the nucleus of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Here, protected by the National Audubon Society, are baldcypresses 130 feet tall; some have a girth of 25 feet! A boardwalk more than one-half mile long enables you to enjoy the beauty of this wild preserve without getting your feet wet. [Illustration: CYPRESS STRAND] WET PRAIRIE TROPICAL HARDWOOD HAMMOCK WET PRAIRIE 1 SOUTH FLORIDA SLASH PINE 2 BALDCYPRESS 3 POP ASH 4 ROYAL PALM AIR PLANT Large stands of baldcypress, called “strands,” support small communities such as ponds, prairies, and tropical hammocks. One such hammock is famous for the finest stand of royal palms remaining in south Florida. The largest cypress strand—the Fakahatchee—extends some 23 miles north and south a few miles east of Naples. Big Cypress Swamp is the home of wild turkey, bobcat, deer, and an occasional Florida panther. The fish-eating otter plays in its waterways. Most of the birds found in the everglades also are found in the trees and waterways of Big Cypress, because the swamp has an abundance of food. The area is so rich in wildlife and edible plants that the Seminole Indians formerly lived entirely off its products. [Illustration: BOBCAT WHITE-TAILED DEER OTTER]