The Endangered Plants of Florida

The Okeechobee Gourd or Indian pumpkin
Cucurbita okeechobeensis

This very rare Gourd was in the past found primarily

along the southern shores of Lake Okeechobee

in Alligator nests among the Pond Apple orchards.

However by the 1930's, this Habitat had been 95% decimated

by the growing spread of agriculture in the area.

In 1994, the Gourd was discovered along the St. John's River

in Volusia county, near willows and elderberries

and again in the nests of Alligators.

The Okeechobee Gourd remains an elusive,

but beautiful reminder of the very fragile Ecosystem

which exists in Florida, indeed in the whole of Earth.