• Plants of natural origin inevitably congregate:
1) on sites that can provide the soil, water, and climate necessary for them to thrive
2) among other plants that contribute to and/or do not threaten their existence.

• Consequently, a different group of plants will occur naturally in each area that differs in soil type and fertility, water availability, and climate.

• These groups, or plant associations and the smaller plant communities responding to variations within them define the natural botanical identity of each place on the planet.

• And though they are naturally consistent within their core, their perimeters merge, resulting in the seamless tapestry of richness and diversity that Nature is.

• The Gulfcoast barrier islands plant list is divided into two broad plant associations, the Coastal Uplands and the Saline Wetlands. Each consists of two distinguishable plant communities that are the sections of this list. Though not discernable from the list, plants belonging to one community will in some locations self-divide themselves further into a succession of separate micro-commmunities, particularly between the shoreline and mid-island or between the drier high lands and lower flood-prone areas: