Selby Botanical Gardens has just completed 16 miles of botanical transects through the Walton Ranch Preserve in south Sarasota County. The Walton Ranch Preserve was purchased through the County’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program, and contains a mixture of high-quality wetands and hammocks, mixed in with pasture. Selby Gardens botanists documented the presence of 333 species of vascular plants, including four species never before collected in Sarasota County. The work was conducted from July 2011 through January, 2012. Selby Gardens has previously conducted botanical surveys on the following Sarasota County properties: Deer Prairie Creek Preserve, Walton Ranch Preserve, Curry Creek Preserve, Red Bug Slough, Circus Hammock Preserve, Sleeping Turtles Preserve, and the Old Myakka Preserve.
There is a lecture on the Walton Ranch Project on Wednesday April 4, 2012
Photo Credit: Bruce Holst