Price’s Scrub protects a mosaic of natural communities and a diverse mix of plants and wildlife. There are 15 different types of natural communities, including upland mixed woodland, scrubby flatwoods and sinkhole lake.
Two of the park’s natural communities, scrub and seepage stream, are considered imperiled, and the park has one of the highest biodiversity ratings in Marion County.
The scrub here is important as it’s one of the northernmost occurrences of this natural community type in Florida. Three stands of scrub occur on slightly higher ridges in the southern portion of the park - imagine sand dunes covered in a thick carpet of shrubby plants yet nowhere near a beach!
This is not the place to seek shade with only dispersed pines above. The dense shrub layer is comprised of myrtle oak, sand live oak and Chapman’s oak, as well as saw palmetto, fetterbush, rusty staggerbush and Florida rosemary. Plants are adapted to thrive in the dry, infertile “sugar sands,” so Florida rosemary looks almost like a succulent.
Scrub evolved with lightning strike fires shaping the landscape, clearing out excess vegetation and allowing for new growth. A mosaic of burned and unburned areas is critical to a healthy scrub. Here, both prescribed fire and mechanical treatment are essential tools in the toolbox used to benefit the scrub’s plant and wildlife species of ...the Real Florida.
