The Billies Bay Wilderness is part of Ocala National Forest. The wilderness was established on September 28, 1984. The mostly marshy and

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

y nature of the area is indicated by the word 'bay' as part of the name, since this is a Floridian term for swamp. It contributes to the headwaters of

Alexander Springs Creek Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

in the nearby Alexander Springs Wilderness.

Flora

Plants in the area include red maple,

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

sweet gum ''Liquidambar'', commonly called sweetgum (star gum in the UK), gum, redgum, satin-walnut, or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated in Hamamelidaceae ...

cabbage palm Cabbage palm is a common name for several species of palms or palm-like plants: *'' Cordyline fruticosa'', a tropical tree native to Asia and Polynesia *''Corypha utan'', an East Asian fan palm (including Northern Australia) *''Euterpe oleracea'', ...

, sand live oak (''Quercus geminata''), sandhill oak ('' Quercus inopina''), myrtle oak ('' Quercus myrtifolia''), Chapman's oak (''Quercus chapmanii''),

palmetto Palmetto (meaning "little palm") may refer to: Palms Several small palms in the Arecaceae (palm tree) family: *in the genus '' Sabal'': **Bermuda palmetto, ''Sabal bermudana'' **Birmingham palmetto, ''Sabal'' 'Birmingham' **Dwarf, or bush palm ...

gallberry Gallberry is a common name for two similar shrubs in the holly family (Aquifoliaceae): * '' Ilex coriacea'' * '' Ilex glabra'' Both are native to coastal areas in the United States from Virginia to Texas. They exist primarily as understory plant ...

, longleaf, loblolly pine,

slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

and sand pine.

External links

Billies Bay Wilderness
a
Wildernet

Billies Bay Wilderness
- official site at Ocala National Forest IUCN Category Ib Protected areas of Lake County, Florida Wilderness areas of Florida Ocala National Forest {{PutnamCountyFL-geo-stub