Southern coastal plain hydric hammock

{{short description|Ecological zone of southeastern US}}

The southern coastal plain hydric hammock is a wetland hammock community found on the flat lowlands of the southern and outermost parts of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the states of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. These forests of evergreen and deciduous hardwood trees occur near the floodplains of spring-fed rivers with relatively constant flows, usually over limestone substrates. They are usually found on gentle slopes just above swamps, marshes or wet prairies. In places, they can form large areas of broad, shallow wetlands.{{cite web |url = http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchSystemUid=ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.723087 |title = Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock |publisher = NatureServe Explorer |accessdate= 17 January 2013}}

Hydric hammocks are found in scattered locations in Florida north of Lake Okeechobee, with concentrations along the upper St. Johns River, the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida, and particularly along the Big Bend section of the Gulf Coast of Florida, from Aripeka to St. Marks.{{cite book|last=Vince|first=Susan W., Stephen R. Humphrey and Robert W. Simmons|title=The ecology of hydric hammocks: a community profile|year=1989|publisher=U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Report 85 (7.26)|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=1–3|url=http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/techrpt/85-7-26.pdf|accessdate=26 December 2011}}

Common trees include Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana), elm (Ulmus americana), sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana), Red Maple (Acer rubrum), swamp laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia), southern live oak (Quercus virginiana), Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), and cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto). Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine) is a typical shrub.{{cite web |url = https://www.fnai.org/PDF/NC/Hydric_Hammock_Final_2010.pdf |title=Hydric Hammock |publisher = Florida Natural Areas Inventory |accessdate= 25 March 2021}}