Gopher Turtle

My Native Plants class took a trip to Jupiter Inlet, near the lighthouse, to see more plants that grow in the Florida Scrub.

We came across this gopher turtle, which is on the endangered species list primarily due to loss of habitat. He let us take his picture, then scurried away. The gopher tortoise belongs to a group of land tortoises that originated in North America 60 million years ago, making it one of the oldest living species.

We saw lots of sable palms, the Florida state tree.

This area is all sandy, even though it is a ways away from the beach.
The love vine covers up everything. Behind it is blue saw palmetto and more sable palms.