Wetland Communities - Depression Marsh
 

Depression marsh, south Florida - are often rounded, often inundated for a portion of their hydroperiod and are dominated by herbaceous perennial plant species. They are typically found in landscapes with sandy soils, very little relief, especially in pine flatwoods and hammocks. The groundcover usually forms concentric rings from the landward edge to the frequently flooded center. A common pattern is a ring of hummocked grasses and sedges, a zone of St. Johns wort, maidencane, pickeralweed, buttonbush, coastal plain willow, fire flag or scattered swamp tupelo in the center. Fluctuating water levels may make it difficult for plants to colonize the ecotone between the upland and marsh, this may appear as a band of white sand around concentric bands of vegetation. Look for adventitious roots on woody vegetation, especially the St. John’s wort and buttonbush. The ecotone between the pine flatwoods and depression marsh is often demarcated by a ring of saw palmetto, sometimes the saw palmetto will form a short "trunk" in the ecotone. The vegetation of depression marshes is related to that of savannas, the Everglades, freshwater lakes and ponds. Often you will see similar species composition in depression marshes, ditches, swales, freshwater lakes and ponds.

View of depression marsh in a pine flatwoods, Martin County, Florida. Note the concentric ring of fireflag and pickeral weed in the center with a zone of maidencane and St. Johns wort around this, finally the zone of hummocked wiregrass that grades into the pine flatwoods.

The following is a list of the major plants associated with depression marshes in south Florida.

Canopy

Botanical Latin	Common Name	Wetland Status
Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora	swamp tupelo	OBL
Salix caroliniana	coastal plain willow	OBL

 

Groundcover

Botanical Latin	Common Name	Wetland Status
Aristida affinis	long-leaf three-awn grass	OBL
Aristida spiciformis	three-awn bottlebrush	FAC
Aristida stricta	wiregrass; pineland three-awn grass	FAC
Cephalanthus occidentalis	buttonbush	OBL
Cladium jamaicense	sawgrass	OBL
Dichromena latifolia	sandswamp whitetop	OBL
Eleocharis sp.	spikerush	OBL
Hypericum fasciculatum	marsh St. John's-wort	OBL
Myrica cerifera	southern bayberry	FAC
Panicum hemitomon	maidencane	OBL
Panicum rigidulum	red-top panicum	FACW
Panicum virgatum	switchgrass	FACW
Pontederia cordata	pickerelweed	OBL
Rhynchospora inundata	horned beakrush	OBL
Rhynchospora microcarpa	southern beakrush	OBL
Rhynchospora tracyi	Tracy's beakrush	OBL
Sagittaria lancifolia	bulltongue arrowhead	OBL
Stillingia aquatica	corkwood	OBL
Thalia geniculata	thalia; fire flag	OBL
Woodwardia virginica	chainfern	FACW