• Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) dangles from trees in Central Florida.ibis in cypress image by Stacey Lynn Payne from Fotolia.com
  
  The sandy to loamy soils of central peninsular Florida support of great deal of plant life. The mild winters and hot, humid and rainy summers (more than 40 inches each year) promote vegetative growth in all levels of the region's mixed hardwood forest or mixed hammock ecosystem. Occasional lakes and swamps provide localized habitat for more water-loving plants. A mix of more northern deciduous trees and pines transitions into subtropical species like palms and bromeliads the farther south in Florida you travel.
  
  

Trees

• Among the dominant trees associated with the natural woodlands across Central Florida are conifers and both evergreen and deciduous trees. Long-leaf pine (Pinus palustris), northern slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. elliottii), southern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) grow across the region, some more prevalent in wetter soil areas. Intermingled are southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), sweet-bay (Magnolia virginiana), laurel cherry (Prunus caroliniana), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), Florida elm (Ulmus floridana), basswood (Tilia caroliniana) and red maple (Acer rubrum). Black cherry (Prunus serotina) and flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) reach their southernmost reach of their natural range just north of Orlando. Oaks inhabiting these forests include live oak (Quercus virginiana) and laurel oak (Qurecus laurifolia).
  
  

Palms

• In sunny openings in the mixed forest the upright, trunked cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto) grows. Cabbage palms also grow in bogs and scrub habitats in the southern parts of Central Florida, as in Polk and Osceola Counties, according to the Florida Native Plant Society. In contrast, trunkless shrub-like palms, such as saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor), grow under pines in more sandy but moist spots in the forests.
  
  

Shrubs

• Many understory shrubs grow in the humus-rich soils under deciduous trees, such as pines and oaks, in Central Florida, according to Rufino Osorio, author of "A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants." Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), marlberry (Ardisia escallonioides), titi (Cyrilla racemiflora), strawberry bush (Euonymus americanus), firebush (Hamelia patens), yellow anise (Illicium parviflorum), fetterbush (Lyonia lucida) and elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) are scattered about the moist to dry soil pockets in the Central Florida hammocks and deeply shaded thickets. Although technically a cycad, the coontie (Zamia floridana) grows in mounded clumps under pine trees.
  
  

Vines

• Clambering on tree trunks in brightly lit nooks of the woodlands is the Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) with yellow flowers in spring and the red-flowering coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) in summer. These vines grow shorter when in drier soil conditions or where sunlight is intense. On occasion, the muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia) is seen, producing its edible black fruits only where enough sunlight reaches the plant.
  
  

Herbs

• Depending on soil moisture, fertility and acidity, various herbaceous flowers and ferns cover the central Florida forest floor. Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) and swamp fern (Blechnum serrulatum) grow in moist areas with shade. Likewise, green dragon (Arisaema dracontium), Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), pine-hyacinth (Clematis baldwinii) and lanceleaf violet (Viola lanceolata) pop-up in various locales in the forest where soil, moisture and light encourage their growth.