“The Rarest Plant Habitat In Florida” 7:00 PM, April 26th

Stephen Hodges (Field Botanist; Tropical Science Institute at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden) will present Keys Cactus Barrens – a unique plant community that only exists in the Florida Keys. For the last several years, the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden Conservation Program has partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation, various other state and federal agencies to map, monitor and restore this highly endangered plant habitat. Data is shared with the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) to assist their mission of identifying and tracking the remaining natural areas of Florida.

Hodges, formerly the resident botanist at KWTF&BG, has worked on field studies with the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Environmental Resource Protection in Southern Florida. Currently, he is responsible for overseeing the endangered and threatened flora of South Florida program at Fairchild Botanic Garden. Among his area of exploration is the endangered Florida Keys tree cactus, species of the Keys pine rocklands, plus a wide array of other native plants threatened by sea level rise.

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED AND WELCOME to the Nature Chapel, just off U.S. 1 on College Road: Members of KWGBS and students are FREE. Non-members $ 5.00, or the opportunity to join. For more, visit www.KWBGS.org or call 305-296-1504