The Southern coastal plain nonriverine basin swamp is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

system found along the southern

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

and the eastern

Gulf coastal plain The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico. This coastal plain reaches from the Florida Panhandle, southwest Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, the southern two-thirds of Alabama, over m ...

, and extending into the

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

peninsula. These wetlands occur in large, seasonally flooded depressions away from rivers. Sites are often forested by trees including bald cypress (''

Taxodium distichum ''Taxodium distichum'' (baldcypress, bald-cypress, bald cypress, swamp cypress; ; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a ...

''), swamp tupelo (''

Nyssa biflora ''Nyssa biflora'', commonly referred to as the swamp tupelo, or swamp black-gum is a species of tupelo that lives in wetland habitats in the United States. Taxonomy Some authors treat swamp tupelo as a variety, ''Nyssa sylvatica'' var. ''biflora ...

''), evergreen shrubs, and hardwoods. Slash pine (''

Pinus elliottii ''Pinus elliottii'', commonly known as slash pine,Family, P. P. (1990). Pinus elliottii Engelm. slash pine. ''Silvics of North America: Conifers'', (654), 338. is a conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is named after ...

'') is sometimes found. Characteristic shrubs include buckwheat tree (''

Cliftonia monophylla ''Cliftonia monophylla'', the buck-wheat tree, buckwheat tree or black titi, is a tree native to the southeastern United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily l ...

''), swamp cyrilla (''

Cyrilla racemiflora ''Cyrilla racemiflora'', the sole species in the genus ''Cyrilla'', is a flowering plant in the family Cyrillaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southeastern United States (coastal areas from southeastern ...

''), fetterbush lyonia (''

Lyonia lucida ''Lyonia lucida'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae known by the common names fetterbush lyonia, hurrahbush, and staggerbush. Other plants may also be called fetterbush. This broadleaved evergreen plant grows on the coastal ...

''), and laurelleaf greenbrier (''

Smilax laurifolia ''Smilax laurifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the greenbrier family known by the common names laurel greenbrier, laurelleaf greenbrier, bamboo vine, and blaspheme vine. It is native to the southeastern United States, where it occurs a ...

'').

References

{{reflist Plant communities of Alabama Plant communities of Mississippi Plant communities of Florida Plant communities of Georgia (U.S. state) Plant communities of South Carolina