Pine trees

[gfretwell]

Lee and Collier require natives from a list. You can use live oaks, laurel oaks Gumbo Limbo and Sabal Palms among others. The oaks seem to be the most popular since they pretty much grow wild and are not that expensive. I have several around my house that just came up. The problem most developers don't consider is they get real big (round) so that little shrub you put in the parking lot medians soon takes over the lot. In the community my wife manages they are takling them out. They need to succumb to a mystery disease first but a little "vitimin G" will do it.

[Red]

lighter knot..

Still is. I use them all the time. Great for getting a fire started. Red cedar is also good since it contains a good bit of cedar oil.

Not all pine stumps turn into lighter. Seems like those trees cut in the winter when the pine sap is mostly on the roots will form lighter stumps, whereas those cut in warm weather will just rot. Lighter stumps are harvested, placed in huge pressure cookers where the steam forces the turpentine out, then sold as "steam turpentine".

Red

[BETA-32]

Check out

.

I just learned about it a few days ago. It's pretty cool. I wish I knew about it sooner when I had other stuff to give away -- even things like scrap metal or pine wood.

It is a website to give away or get stuff for free and there are local groups for most areas. Part of the idea of giving stuff away is so it will not end up in a landfill.

If you do decide to join one of the local FreeCycle online groups, it is sometimes easy and better to use a Yahoo email address for it. If you don't already have one, just create a free Yahoo email account with fake name, etc.

[Oren]

The highest elevation in Florida is 345' (North FL) above sea level, iirc. In the Panhandle, the area is full of oak. Tallahassee is beautiful with majestic oak. Central Florida is the same. The largest loblolly pine is located in a state park (around Gainesville?).

On the edges of the Everglades you can observe strands of pines growing on the high ground (for what it is). Sea level.

-- Oren

"I wouldn't even be here if my support group hadn't beaten me up."

[Oren]

Some spots in the Everglades have native maples. One of the few places you can observe seasonal changes in the leaves in South Florida.

As I kid I camped in the open near Melaleuca (_paper_) trees in pollen. That stuff got in my lungs and figured I'd die, before I got better. They suck up to much water and should be killed off.

-- Oren

"I wouldn't even be here if my support group hadn't beaten me up."

[Oren]

lighter knot..

I'm jealous :)

Any time I cut pine lumber and get a whiff of the pine sap, it reminds me a real lighter knot. :-)

Those pine stumps will burn for days while in the ground..

-- Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

[Oren]

In the South (1800's) a mule, and / or dynamite was used to get the pine stumps out. Cleared for cotton..etc...

We kept a kindling bucket. When we split logs we picked the best piece to sliver up the kindling, Makes for easy fire starters.

-- Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

[Oren]

Ft Myers used to have a population of 25,000.

I left; back then (little later).

Swamps were native, your international airport was commonly called "poll-crossing". A Cypress head, with poles aross the road for travel. Story was, they had "stills" back there.

-- Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."