The Everglades is a swamp located in southwestern Florida. It contains over 2,000 different types of plants, including saw grass (Cladium jamaicense), mangroves (including the red, black and white mangroves), alligator flag (Thalia geniculata), strangler fig (Ficus aurea), gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba), mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), saw palmetto, pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens), bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), moonvine (a morning glory), coontie, and various willows, slash pine (Pinus elliottii densa) and other pines, and oaks with Spanish moss hanging form the limbs. Many epiphytes (air plants) like the night-blooming epidendrum (Epidendrum nocturnum) also live in trees.
The Florida Everglades are subtropical marshlands located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, specifically in parts of Monroe, Collier, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, and Broward counties. Although much modified by agricultural development in central and southern Florida, the Everglades is the southern half of a large watershed arising in the vicinity of Orlando known as the Kissimmee River system. The Kissimmee flows from Taylor Creek, Nubbin Slough, and Fisheating Creek, and discharges into Lake Okeechobee, a very large (730 mi² or 1,890 km²), shallow (10 ft or 3 m) fresh water lake.