I Toured Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park in Florida
On the very last day of our Florida vacation, as a lover of trees, shrubs, and all sorts of plants, there was still one more place I wanted to visit, Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park. This 280-acre bay-side island is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the site of a virgin hardwood forest, or old-growth forest, which is a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance. I went off on my own to explore this place, as the others wanted to remain at our resort, Pines and Palms, to relax and swim. I was glad I did go alone because the island is quite mysterious and not a good place for little children.
1 Every day started with a delicious breakfast - English muffins, toasted with bacon, and freshly made egg salad (eggs I brought from home, of course) with celery and mayo.
2 Kevin ate two muffins and loved them.
3 I ate a sandwich on whole grain bread with a side of cottage cheese - very healthy.
4 Lignumvitae Key was a recommended trip that I went on with Captain Sam, who I introduced to you on my first Florida blog posting.
5 It is a sizeable island, with a veritable botanical treasure growing atop the coral reef island. Thousands of years ago, it was a coral reef underwater. When the polar ice caps froze, the sea level dropped, exposing the top of the reef.
6 Signs keep trespassers off the island. There is a designated entry point and specific visiting times. Over time, storm tides and waves left seaweed, driftwood and other organic debris upon on the bare rock, which decayed, forming small pockets of soil in depressions in the coral rock.
7 We first rode around the island so I could see it in its entirety. Eventually, seeds began washing up on shore from nearby islands, or were carried by the wind, or brought there in the digestive tracts of migrating birds.
8 The seeds began to grow in all of those fertile pockets, creating a life-cycle. With the passing of each generation, a complex and diverse tropical hammock colonized the remains of this ancient coral reef. There are mangroves along the edge and a variety of taller trees inland.
9 The virgin tropical hardwood hammock that thrives on this island was once common on most of Florida's Upper Keys. Much of the forest on those islands has been lost to development.
10 The dock is well-built and quiet.
11 The island is open for tours from Friday to Sunday with a fee of $1.00 per person. Although very interesting, it is not a "tourist attraction" by any means.
12 Cormorants were everywhere, sunning themselves and diving into the clear water.
13 Cormorants are found almost everywhere that water meets shore. Despite spending so much time in the water, they do not possess the waterproofing oil of other seabirds and cormorants spend a good deal of time drying their wings.
14 Seagrass abounds beneath the water.
15 Canons from a diving expedition decorate the entrance and a cement walkway leads to the existing structure.
16 In 1919, William J. Matheson, a wealthy Miami chemist, bought this tiny island and built a caretaker's home with a windmill for electricity and a cistern for rainwater.
17 Today, his hideaway is the visitor center for this island forest. The house is made from coral bedrock and one can see many fossils and shells impregnated in it.
18 In 1953, the island acquired new owners and Charlotte and Russell Neidhauk lived there and served as caretakers. Charlotte wrote this book about her life in Florida.
19 On March 2, 1971 Lignum Vitae and nearby Shell Keys were purchased by the State of Florida, and Lignum Vitae became Lignumvitae Key State Botanical Park.
20 There is a small but informative exhibit in the house, including excellent photographs.
21 The bedroom walls were lined with bead board and the interior was decorated very simply.
22 Historic and interesting exhibits tell the island's story.
23 These are samples of lignum vitae wood, a very dense and hard, resinous wood widely used for tool handles. Because it is a self-lubricating wood, it had many other uses for such things as clock parts and machine bearings.
24 There are lignum vitae samples everywhere.
25 There was much demand for this wood until modern science offered up polymer, alloys, and composite materials which can take lignum vitae's place.
26 There is a very simple kitchen equipped with a water pump sink.
27 Cooking was done with this wood burning stove.
28 "Lignum vitae" is Latin for "wood of life", so named for its medical uses from coughs to arthritis. Chips of the wood can even be steeped as tea.
29 The first Saturday in December marks the Lignumvitae Christmas Celebration, when the historic home is decorated 1930s-style.
30 The decorations were actually very charming, made from palms, coconuts, and other natural found objects.
31 The floor was made of a special type of pine that has wonderful graining.
32 A lignum vitae tree is growing right next to the house and is reputedly about 300 years old.
33 An ancient foundation also made of coral bedrock.
34 Entering the virgin forest one needs a ranger guide to describe all the unusual trees and their woods.
35 The ranger pointed out Gumbo-limbo trees that have reddish-peeling bark. They are often referred to as the Tourist Tree because they resemble the skin of many a sunburned tourist.
36 Poisonwood trees grow abundantly in the Florida Keys. They produce the irritant urushiol, much like its close relatives poison sumac and poison oak.
37 Another type of tree with great bark.
38 A closeup of how flaky it is
39 Another poisonwood, which sheds much like a sycamore.
40 More great bark
41 And more
42 This is a banyan, or strangler fig, growing over a poisonwood tree. It can eventually completely envelop the poisonwood.
43 More impressive bark
44 And more
45 This tree has shelf fungus growing on it.
46 Bromeliads grow upon the high branches of trees.
47 An osprey nest is perched on top of a radio tower. I learned a lot about the kinds of wood that grow in the Keys and what uses they have for local inhabitants, as well as commercial interests.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
Martha, it warms my heart very well when I read "I went off on my own" and "I was glad I did" because sometimes as leaders you give and give and don't always take time for yourself. I'm glad you were able to do this as well and carve out sometime for self.
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But I got a question for ya, how you gone tempt me with the bacon photos and I'm going meatless today-come on now that's not fair! :0( LOL I mean two perfectly good bacon biscuts I could easily have in the morning. No one said the journey would be easy did they! LOL
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Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | January 9th, 2013 at 12:58 am
Thanks for these great pictures of Florida trip. Buddy ate many of those sandwiches packed in lunch and loved seeing them pictured here. Think I will visit keys once again now that you have inspired me.
Posted by: ANN | January 9th, 2013 at 2:04 am
Your breakfast sandwich looks delicious Martha. I could eat that everyday myself but with a side of organic greek yogurt instead!
Thank you for introducing me to Lignumvitae Key, just when you think you know an area you learn something new.
Nice pictures of the various tree barks, the variety of textures and colors is fascinating. Picture #42 is very interesting with the banyon growing over the poisonwood tree. Thanks again for this very informative and enjoyable blog post Martha!
Posted by: Cindy F | January 9th, 2013 at 8:00 am
Thank you again for taking the time out of your schedule to educate your viewers.
We live in a beautiful country and we forgot our resources sometimes. I miss visiting Florida in the winter. You have brought back wonderful memories.
Posted by: ga447 | January 9th, 2013 at 9:19 am
Hi Martha, Thanks so much for those 3 tweets this morning! I can't wait to see you on the Today Show in about 3 more hours to cook a Meatless meal with Matt! Sure sounds great! Love this latest, fascinating, awesome blog about the tour you took at Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park! I have never heard of that park before and it was so wonderful to see as much of it that you shared with us!! It would be so much fun to see all of that area someday if ever possible! The foods you made with your eggs in photos #1,2,&3 sure do look delicious and I'm sure Kevin loved them! How nice of Captain Sam to take you on this trip and every bit of it shows things I have never seen or heard of before! You certainly inspired me and taught me some awesome things that are so much fun to learn about! Those cormorants sure are beautiful birds! How great to learn about William J. Matheson starting this park way back in 1919 and it is one beautiful park to visit! I love photo #23 of those beautiful log pieces from trees in that area-gorgeous! That wood burning stove in photo#27 is just like one my aunt had many years ago-beautiful! Very interesting information with photo#28-wow! That 300 year old tree in photo#32 is awesome! I love seeing all of those trees with unusual barks, also! Thanks again for this fabulous blog! Hope you have another great day! Off to see The Daily Wag about " Supervising Ryan in the Greenhouse!" Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | January 9th, 2013 at 9:19 am
Growing up in northern Michigan, we used the same cookstove. There were times in the mid-1970s when the electricity would be out for a week, and all of our cooking was done on it. I really liked seeing your photos of this island and learning about this place.
Posted by: homer | January 9th, 2013 at 9:42 am
Hi Martha,
It seems a good thing that the island had a couple of caretakers over the years even if it wasn’t for the sole purpose of preserving those endangered trees, or maybe that was their reason for wanting to live there. I’m glad the state owns it now and made it a natural landmark. I read that the lignum vitae was the national tree of the Bahamas and wondered how they managed to preserve them over there. I’ll do some reading but I imagine the law probably enforces not cutting them down like they do with Banyans here. Also, too bad there wasn’t a Save a Tree foundation way back when, but fortunately landmarks like this one can definitely send a message of why we need to save our trees. There should be a sign at the entrance of this landmark that reads, “Martha Stewart Was Here”. I bet that would make it a tourist haven and I’m sure they could use the funds to keep the place up. I especially like your pictures of the inside of the house because they remind me of my grandmother’s little house which was also on an island. She had the water pump and the old stove and the wrought iron bed but the interior was all unfinished wood, really rustic. Come down here anytime and show me Florida. I may live here but I don’t get out much anymore, nor did I know about this botanical state park. Pathetic, I know, but then one of the reasons I tag behind you is so I can learn new things and you never disappoint!
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Saw you on the Today Show this morning but wow, your segments are always so rushed. That’s okay because I’ve got your Meatless book and will look up the recipes you demoed. Have a great day. Trish
Posted by: Trish | January 9th, 2013 at 10:17 am
Thank you for keeping me in the right direction 25 years ago when I was at the difficult menopausal time of my life. You continue to entertain, education and motivate me all these years while I hang in there until I can partially retire in 33 months and 5 days, and do some more of these trips, and activities. (I am keeping a list)
Fan with polish heritage
Posted by: Jean | January 9th, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Thank you for sharing your visit--I have never heard of this park before so it was nice to see what it is like. The breakfast pics looked yummy too!
Posted by: Alisa Hilde | January 9th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Thank you for your post of the Florda trip, the park you visited today's posting will be for our next trip near home. We live in south central Florida and are always looking for a new adventure. We are just starting to raise chickens in our yard. We have many things that are going to make this very interesting as hawks, owls , bobcats, snaked, fox,and raccoons. Visit next trip to our state, Martha Angell
Posted by: Martha Angell | January 9th, 2013 at 6:24 pm
The only place I know off that has very tall trees are in Marin County. Most of them in Northern California were cut down by early European residence. I am hoping that someone will start a program to replace the ones that were cut down years earlier.
Posted by: C.T.G. | January 9th, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Great to see that you stayed in a small private resort. These places are the best way to get the true feel of the Keys. They are being bought up and replaced by large condos and resorts too often. I moved from the Keys in August and it was nice to follow your visit to some of my favorite spots. Love the Hungry Tarpon, their breakfasts are great. I lived right by the Dolphin Research Center and my kids loved it. Thanks for showing the best sites of the Keys, we are so much more than Key West.
Posted by: Lynn Ritli | January 9th, 2013 at 8:47 pm
We heard rumors that you were in town enjoying the Keys. Next time check out the parks in Key Largo and the Native Plant nursery that is run by volunteers.
140 edifferent kinds of native plants are grown from seed.
Posted by: Jackie DeGayner | January 11th, 2013 at 1:38 pm
I love that there's a photo of bacon directly after the post about a Vegan cookbook.
Posted by: Giovanni Marco | January 11th, 2013 at 3:39 pm
It's amazing to learn about another exceptional Florida park. So many men of history visited Florida long before it was an easy journey....namely, John Bartram of Philadelphia, whose travels in Florida led to the discoveries of many new species. You'd like the new book, An American Canopy by Eric Radke.
Posted by: Susan Gehris | January 11th, 2013 at 3:56 pm
I had a smile when a saw that you and Kevin shared a breakfast the way we do home, not to fancy, simply good.
Posted by: Annie | January 12th, 2013 at 8:16 am
Islamorada Garden Invitation. Martha, Our garden has been on the Upper Keys Garden tour twice now and we would love to give you a tour when you are back in town. Bob and Phyllis Mitchell 305 301-3947
Posted by: Bob & Phyllis Mitchell | May 23rd, 2013 at 9:17 am