Okefenokee Prairie Ecosystem

Excerpt from the 1926 History of the Okefenokee Swamp by AS McQueen and Hamp Mizell:

“It is rather hard to determine how these so-called “prairies” of the Okefenokee came by this name. These prairies are better described as marshes, for they are covered by numerous water plants, such as the water lily, maiden cane, saw-grass, etc. One old resident, who has visited our great West, advanced the theory that these open spaces within the Swamp are called ‘prairies’ for the reason that, viewed from a distance, especially when the wind is blowing the saw-grass, they resemble very much the real prairies of the western country.”

iNaturalist observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/45780707