March 2002
Water Conservation Area 3A

An airboat trail through Sawgrass.
Sawgrass, Cladium jamaicense, can reach three meters in height.
They are found in fresh and brachish water marshes.
Driving and bouncing an airboat along these trails in the Saw Grass for the first time was like a bearing in a pinball arcade game.  Scared the hell
out of me! Especially when forced to leave the trail and go through Sawgrass.  
Several times we plowed our way through a thick patch of blooming Sawgrass and the were just got covered in pollen.
The Everglades is comprised of swamps, towering mangroves and endless sawgrass.
I read once that the true meaning of the word Everglade is best explained by dividing the word in half. The second half one the word comes from
an old Anglo-Saxon term, glyde or glaed, meaning a bright, shining, open space in the forest. The first part of the word promises an eternity of
grass and shining water without limit.  Hence the phrase "Sea of Grass".
Cool huh!