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, ...

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 epiphytes as well as Carolina jessamine and

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 provi ...

s, swallowtail butterflies,

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 ...

s, and song birds.

References

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