Southern Florida Coastal Plain

The Southern Florida Coastal Plain is the only tropical ecoregion in the continental United States, running from roughly Lake Okeechobee down through the Everglades, the Miami area, and the Keys. There is no real winter, rain arrives in a heavy summer wet season, and the ground is sand or limestone with the water table close beneath it. Natives such as scarlet sage and pigeonberry are built for that heat and rainfall pattern, and they recover from storms that flatten imported ornamentals.

Conditions: Sand and limestone over a very high water table, 50–65 inches of rain concentrated May through October, no frost, hurricane exposure.

Cities and areas: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, West Palm Beach, Key West, Homestead.