A preserve in southern Polk County features two takes on the rare flora of the Lake Wales Ridge.

Nestled along the eastern shore of Hickory Lake, this 57-acre preserve showcases some of the unusual plants you can only find on the Lake Wales Ridge. When the rest of Florida was under a few feet of water, long, thin dune-capped islands stood well above the waves. As a result, the ridge has one of North America’s most diverse biological communities, with the highest concentration of rare and endangered plants in the continental United States. Although this is only one of a string of natural lands showcasing the Lake Wales Ridge habitat, it is by far the most accessible and easiest to explore.