Blowing Rocks Preserve
Encyclopedia
Blowing Rocks Preserve is an environmental preserve on Jupiter Island
in Hobe Sound
, Martin County
, Florida
, USA
. It is owned by The Nature Conservancy
. It contains the largest Anastasia limestone
outcropping on the state's
east coast. The preserve also features several coastal ecotone
s, including maritime hammocks, mangrove
wetlands, and beach
dune
s. Breaking waves spray plumes of water through erosion
holes; the spray can reach heights of 50 feet (15.2 m). This distinctive spectacle thus earned the limestone outcrop's name. The limestone outcropping also encompasses coquina
shells, crustacean
s, and sand. The preserve includes an educational center, native plant nursery, boardwalk, oceanside path, and a butterfly garden. Common native species include sea grapes
, gumbo limbo
, and Sabal palms
. Invasive exotic
plants are removed in order to preserve indigenous flora. The Argiope aurantia, Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Corn Spider or locally referred to as the Writing Spider, may be seen in abundance during the months from July through October. While considered harmless, the aforementioned oceanside path is a mating ground within the tall vegetation seen in the image below.
The Hawley Education Center features rotating natural history
and art exhibits, and offers environmental education
classes and workshops. A boardwalk along the Indian River Lagoon
contains interpretive signs about the plants, wildlife and area environment.
Jupiter Island
Jupiter Island is a barrier island on the coast of Martinand Palm Beach counties, Florida. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the St. Lucie Inlet, on the west by the Indian River, and on the south by the Jupiter Inlet...
in Hobe Sound
Hobe Sound, Florida
Hobe Sound is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,376 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography and climate:...
, Martin County
Martin County, Florida
Martin County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 126,731. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county is 138,660. Its county seat is Stuart, Florida.- History :...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is owned by The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
. It contains the largest Anastasia limestone
Anastasia Formation
The Anastasia Formation is a geologic formation deposited in Florida during the Late Pleistocene epoch.-Age:Period : QuaternaryEpoch: Pleistocene ~2.558 to 0.012 mya, calculates to a period of...
outcropping on the state's
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
east coast. The preserve also features several coastal ecotone
Ecotone
An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local or regional...
s, including maritime hammocks, mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
wetlands, and beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s. Breaking waves spray plumes of water through erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
holes; the spray can reach heights of 50 feet (15.2 m). This distinctive spectacle thus earned the limestone outcrop's name. The limestone outcropping also encompasses coquina
Coquina
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...
shells, crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, and sand. The preserve includes an educational center, native plant nursery, boardwalk, oceanside path, and a butterfly garden. Common native species include sea grapes
Coccoloba uvifera
Coccoloba uvifera is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, that is native to coastal beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean, including southern Florida, the Bahamas, Barbados and Bermuda...
, gumbo limbo
Bursera simaruba
Bursera simaruba, commonly known as the Gumbo-limbo, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas from the southeasternmost United States south through Mexico and the Caribbean to Brazil and Venezuela...
, and Sabal palms
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...
. Invasive exotic
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
plants are removed in order to preserve indigenous flora. The Argiope aurantia, Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Corn Spider or locally referred to as the Writing Spider, may be seen in abundance during the months from July through October. While considered harmless, the aforementioned oceanside path is a mating ground within the tall vegetation seen in the image below.
The Hawley Education Center features rotating natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
and art exhibits, and offers environmental education
Environmental education
Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to...
classes and workshops. A boardwalk along the Indian River Lagoon
Indian River Lagoon
The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. It was originally named Rio de Ais after the Ais Indian tribe, who lived along the east coast of Florida....
contains interpretive signs about the plants, wildlife and area environment.