Landmark Cypress № 9 - “Green”

Rhett Green is an iconic, massive tree whose two trunks lost their top 30 feet in 1960 when Hurricane Donna struck, leaving cavities that collect rainwater and create high-up habitat for wildlife and plants. A strangler fig grows draped at its base, with roots wrapped around the trunk and possibly begun in one of those treetop ponds, and migratory birds and other animals return each spring to eat the figs. The tree is named for Rhett Green, an Audubon warden first hired in 1912 to protect egrets, herons, and Roseate Spoonbills from plume poachers. During breeding season he camped in the pine flatwoods and patrolled the swamp, which he called the Corkscrew, carrying his Winchester rifle and risking his life.

Florida · United States