Hammocks are Florida’s original air conditioning. Many pioneer
families selected hammocks for home sites, and Dinner
Hammock is no different. A home once stood just past the
pavilion, and the early Duette homesteaders lived and worked
under these very same oaks. To this day, humans still appreciate
the shady spot, and refer to it as “Dinner Hammock” or “The
Nooning Spot” for its popularity as a place for picnics.
This hammock is like a little island of trees surrounded by other
upland habitats. Here the most common species is live oak
and, looking out past the trees, not much ground cover can be
found. It may seem that this area is devoid of plant life but, cast
your gaze upwards. Along the branches of the mighty oaks an
entire colony of epiphytes ourish. These plants are growing
on the oaks but do not cause it any harm; their roots only help
them hold on to the trees. Instead of getting their nutrients and
water from the soil, they survive by using
their leaves to take in both moisture and nutrients from air and
rain. Their leaves have tiny white fuzzy hairs called trichomes
that help catch moisture and dust, allowing the plant to feed and
hydrate itself. The oaks at Dinner Hammock are home to multiple
epiphyte species including air plants and occasionally orchids.
Another unique organism living in the hammock also loves
to grow on the oaks. In this case, though, the creature is not
one single plant or even a plant at all; rather it is a complex
relationship between two organisms functioning as a stable,
single unit. While they may look like little plants, the lichens
growing at Dinner Hammock are, instead, a partnership between
a fungus and an algal or cyanobacterium. The fungus cannot
create its own food, so it forms a symbiotic relationship with the
other entity in order to provide itself with a constant source of
nourishment. Dinner Hammock is home to numerous different
lichens including examples of
crusting, leafy, and branching
types.
Dinner Hammock
FL Air Plant
Photo by
Shirl Hamilton
Live Oak photo by PNRD Staff
Red Lichen
Photo by Melissa Nell