Billies Bay Wilderness
Encyclopedia
The Billies Bay Wilderness is part of Ocala National Forest
. The 3092 acres (13 km²) wilderness was established on September 28, 1984. The mostly marsh
y and swamp
y nature of the area is indicated by the word 'bay' as part of the name, since this is a Floridian term for swamp. It contributes to the headwaters of Alexander Springs Creek in the nearby Alexander Springs Wilderness
.
, bay
, sweet gum, cabbage palm
, scrub oak
, palmetto
, gallberry
, longleaf
, loblolly pine
, slash
and sand pine
.
Ocala National Forest
The Ocala National Forest is the second largest National Forest in the U.S. state of Florida and covers approximately of Central Florida. It is located three miles east of Ocala and southeast of Gainesville...
. The 3092 acres (13 km²) wilderness was established on September 28, 1984. The mostly marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
y and swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
y nature of the area is indicated by the word 'bay' as part of the name, since this is a Floridian term for swamp. It contributes to the headwaters of Alexander Springs Creek in the nearby Alexander Springs Wilderness
Alexander Springs Wilderness
Alexander Springs Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Florida and was designated in 1984 by the United States Congress. The wilderness has a total of 7,941 acres and is within Ocala National Forest, which is the oldest National Forest east of the Mississippi River...
.
Flora
Plants in the area include red mapleRed Maple
Acer rubrum , is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas...
, bay
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
, sweet gum, cabbage palm
Sabal palmetto
Sabal palmetto, also known as cabbage palm, palmetto, cabbage palmetto, palmetto palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, swamp cabbage and sabal palm, is one of 15 species of palmetto palm . It is native to the southeastern United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas...
, scrub oak
Scrub Oak
Scrub Oak is a general name for several species of small, shrubby oaks, including the following species:*California Scrub Oak *Leather Oak *Coastal Scrub Oak...
, palmetto
Palmetto
-Botany:Members of several genera of small palms:*the genus Sabal of the Arecaceae family**Dwarf Palmetto**Sabal palmetto*Saw Palmetto, Serenoa repens*Silver saw palmetto, Acoelorraphe wrightii-Place names:United States...
, gallberry
Holly
Ilex) is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones world wide....
, longleaf
Longleaf Pine
Pinus palustris, commonly known as the Longleaf Pine, is a pine native to the southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast Virginia extending into northern and central Florida....
, loblolly pine
Loblolly Pine
Pinus taeda is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from central Texas east to Florida, and north to Delaware. It is particularly dominant in the eastern half of North Carolina, where there are huge expanses consisting solely of Loblolly Pine trees...
, slash
Slash Pine
Pinus elliottii, commonly known as the Slash Pine, is a pine native to the southeastern United States, from southern South Carolina west to southeastern Louisiana, and south to the Florida Keys....
and sand pine
Sand Pine
Pinus clausa is a small, often shrubby tree from , exceptionally to tall, found in two separate locations, one across central peninsular Florida, and the other in the western Florida panhandle and the Alabama coast; there is a range gap of about between the populations...
.