Jelks Preserve is a natural preserve with of trail along the

Myakka River (big water) , image = Myakka River.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Myakka River in El Jobean , image_alt = , map = Myakkarivermap.png , map_size = 200px , map_caption ...

in southern

Sarasota County, Florida Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL ...

History

The land was purchased in 1999 via the one percent county sales tax and a donation from the Jelks Family Foundation (namesake for the preserve). The habitat is riverine floodplain and includes live oak with

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s as well as

Carolina jessamine ''Gelsemium sempervirens'' is a twining vine in the family Gelsemiaceae, native to subtropical and tropical America: Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico ( Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo),coralbean ''Erythrina herbacea'', commonly known as the coral bean, Cherokee bean, Mamou plant in South Louisiana, red cardinal or cardinal spear, is a flowering shrub or small tree found throughout the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico; ...

wildflowers. Wildlife include

gopher tortoise The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide ...

swallowtail butterflies Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful Butterfly, butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes ...

swallow-tailed kite The swallow-tailed kite (''Elanoides forficatus'') is a pernine raptor which breeds from the southeastern United States to eastern Peru and northern Argentina. It is the only species in the genus ''Elanoides''. Most North and Central American b ...

s, and

song bird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

References

Nature reserves in Florida Protected areas of Sarasota County, Florida {{SarasotaCountyFL-geo-stub