Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

Image 1 of 1
Less

MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470843.JPG

Add to Lightbox Download

Floating islands of bouyant peat carry grasses, sedges, and bald cypress trees in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia.
A mysterious aura surrounds the Okefenokee, wilderness of a boggy, unstable land commonly known as “Land of the Trembling Earth.” More accurately translated, “Okefenokee” means “waters shaking” in Hitchiti, an extinct dialect in the Muskogean language family spoken in the Southeast by indigenous people related to Creeks and Seminoles.

The name refers to the gas that forms as submerged vegetation decomposes and bubbles up from the bottom of the swamp. Plants begin growing and clump together to form spongy little islands.

Copyright
MELISSA FARLOW
Image Size
6856x10198 / 95.9MB
Keywords
Contained in galleries
Okefenokee USA_National Geographic magazine_4/1992
Floating islands of bouyant peat carry grasses, sedges, and bald cypress trees in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia.<br /> A mysterious aura surrounds the Okefenokee, wilderness of a boggy, unstable land commonly known as “Land of the Trembling Earth.” More accurately translated, “Okefenokee” means “waters shaking” in Hitchiti, an extinct dialect in the Muskogean language family spoken in the Southeast by indigenous people related to Creeks and Seminoles.<br /> <br /> The name refers to the gas that forms as submerged vegetation decomposes and bubbles up from the bottom of the swamp. Plants begin growing and clump together to form spongy little islands.