Our Exotic Rainforest has three walkways which take you on a stroll around the pond.  The main walk, which you see on the home page of this site, leads from our glass kitchen door to the back entrance of the atrium.  At the end of that walk a right turn takes you here, to the South Walk.  The entire atrium is 24 feet by 24 feet so each walk is not long.  But if you take your time there is plenty to see along your way.  To the left of the South Walk is a small grove of flowering bananas, Musa ornata.  One of their flowers can just barely be seen hanging in the center of the photograph.  These 10 to 12 foot trees produce fruit too small to eat but they do produce a beautiful "flower".  Some are bright pink, others are almost purple. 

Beneath their leaves grows a large number and variety of philodendrons and anthuriums including a fairly a large Bird's Nest anthurium, Anthurium hookeri.  This plant and one other just like it along the main walk originally resided on the grounds of Orchid Jungle in Miami before the park was destroyed in 1992.  A grounds keeper gave me the plant after the park closed.  Just past the anthurium is a small Frangipani tree that produces 2 inch flowers of mixed pink, yellow, white and red.  The tree really deserves more space and sun.  It should be twice it's size by now but still remains healthy in it's confined space.  On the right of the South Walk is the back of the waterfall (sorry, not visible) and a number of oncidium orchids attached to "logs" next to the pond.  At the end of the walk to the right is one of our tall stands of White Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia nicolai).  At the very end of the walk you'll find the West Walk and one of our "fake" logs which is now covered with bromeliads, orchids and philodendrons.