The Fakahatchee Strand is a twenty-mile-long swamp forest that runs from Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge through Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park toward Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Year round water beneath a blanket of tree tops maintains warm temperatures throughout the winter and fosters a high level of rare and endangered tropical plant species. A variety of green bromiliads called guzmania hang from cypress and pond apple trees and 44 native species of orchids (the highest concentration in North America) hide in the shadows.