Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park

Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
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Location	Monroe County, Florida, USA
Nearest city	Islamorada, Florida
Coordinates	24°54′7.18″N 80°41′57.56″W / 24.9019944°N 80.6993222°W / 24.9019944; -80.6993222
Area	10,818 acres (43.78 km²)^[1]
Established	1971^[2]
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

U.S. National Natural Landmark
Designated	October 1968

Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park is a Florida State Park consisting of Lignumvitae Key, Shell Key, surrounding submerged lands, and a parcel at the northern end of Lower Matecumbe Key. The islands are located one mile west of U.S. 1 (Overseas Highway) at mile marker 78.5, and can be reached only by private boat or tour boat.

Lignumvitae Key was designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1968, recognizing the tropical hardwood hammock on the island.^[3]

The park includes Lignumvitae Key (287 acres (116 ha)), Shell Key (203 acres (82 ha)), a parcel of (11 acres (4 ha)) on Lower Matecumbe Key, three parcels of mangrove forest adjacent to Upper Matecumbe Key and Lower Matecumbe Key, totaling (267 acres (108 ha)), and 9,958 acres (40 km²) of submerged land, primarily on the Florida Bay side of the Matecumbe Keys, but extending between Upper Matecumbe Key and Lower Matecumbe Key into the Atlantic Ocean.^[4]

The park is managed jointly with the Indian Key State Historic Site, the Shell Key Preserve State Park, and the San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve State Park.^[5]

The state park largely overlaps the 6,700 acres (27 km²) Lignumvitae Key Aquatic Preserve, which was designated by the state in 1969.^[6]

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Flora

Tropical hardwood hammocks dominate the key. Trees found on the island include Holywood Lignum-vitae (Guaiacum sanctum), False Mastic (Sideroxylon foetidissimum), Florida Strangler Fig (Ficus aurea), Poisonwood (Metopium toxiferum), Pigeonplum (Coccoloba diversifolia) and Gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba).

Fauna

Among the park's wildlife are a variety of shore, wading and migratory birds.

History

Lignumvitae Key has also been known as Cayo de la Leña (in the Spanish Florida period), Jenkinson Key (during British rule), and Lignurd Vetoz (in the early and middle 19th century), before becoming known by its present name sometime in the late 19th century.^[7]

Lignumvitae Key, as part of the upper and middle Florida Keys, is composed of Key Largo Limestone, a fossilized coral reef formed hundreds of thousands of years ago when the sea level was higher than today. The flora on the island is typical of the Bahamas and West Indies, as the result of seeds being brought to the island by wind, water and migrating birds.^[8] Shell Key is a mangrove island.^[9]

A wealthy chemist from Miami, William John Matheson, bought the island in 1919. He built a small home, with a windmill to supply power and a cistern to capture fresh rainwater. The renovated building is now the visitor center for the park.^[8]

The State of Florida acquired Lignumvitae Island in 1971. It has since added several parcels to the park.^[1]

Activities

Hour-long guided walks occur twice daily, Friday - Sunday. There is no fishing or swimming allowed off the dock or within 100 feet of it. No more than 50 people are permitted on the Key at one time - 25 on the trail and 25 in the clearing. Visitors are warned to bring shoes and mosquito repellent.

Hours

The park is open from 8:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. daily except Tuesday and Wednesday.

Due to state cut backs, tours are given only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10am and 2pm.

Notes

^ ^a ^b UMP 2012, p. 1.
^ UMP 2012, p. A1-1.
^ "National Natural Landmarks - Lignumvitae Key". National Park Service. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
^ UMP 2012, pp. 12–13.
^ UMP 2012, p. 31.
^ "Lignumvitae Key Aquatic Preserve". Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
^ UMP 2012, p. 40.
^ ^a ^b "History - Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park". Florida State Parks. 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
^ UMP 2012, p. 12.

Sources

Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park Approved Unit Management Plan (UMP) (PDF) (Report). April 23, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2023.

External links

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National wildlife refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other national protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Local level

Preserves and reserves	Moccasin Lake

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