Floristic inventory of the Waccasassa Bay State Preserve, Levy County, Florida

A floristic inventory of the Waccasassa Bay State Preserve in southwestern Levy County, Florida was conducted from April 1996 to December 1997. The 12 ,488 ha (30,849 acres) Preserve yielded vouchers for a total of 2 charophyt es, 24 liverworts, 29 mosses, 43 macrolichens, and 576 vascular plants. Of the vascular plants, there is 1 lycopsid, 12 ferns, 1 cycad, 4 conifers, an d 555 angiosperms. 178 of which are monocots. Sixty-nine species are nonind igenous, and 73 species are recorded for the first time from Levy County. S eventy-two species are at or near their northern or southern limits, 18 spe cies have disjunct distributions or very restricted ranges in Florida, and 16 species are Florida endemics or near-endemics. Five natural plant commun ities, as well as ruderal areas, were recognized based on field observation s: tidal marsh, coastal hydric hammock, freshwater pools, basin swamp, and mesic to scrubby flatwoods. Treatment of the coastal hydric hammock as a si ngle highly variable community, as opposed to a mosaic of intermixed commun ities, was supported by a limited quantitative analysis.