Myakka -- Florida State Soil

Photograph of landscape of Myakka soil series. Scene is a nearly level area with a few scattered pine trees and a ground cover of those shrubs, forbs, and grasses which would be the understory of a forest cover.

Photograph of a the profile of a typifying pedon of Myakka soil series.

Myakka Soil Profile

Surface layer: gray fine sand
Subsurface layer: light gray fine sand
Subsoil: dark reddish brown fine sand with organic stains
Substratum: brown and yellowish brown fine sand
 The State of Florida has the largest total acreage of Aquods (wet, sandy soils with an organic-stained subsoil layer) on flatwood landforms in the nation. Myakka (pronounced My-yak-ah), an Indian word for Big Waters, is a native soil of Florida and does not occur in any other state. It occurs on more than 1� million acres in Florida. It is the most extensive soil in the state.

The Florida Association of Professional Soil Classifiers and the Florida Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society worked together to commemorate the state’s unique soil legacy. It is very fitting that they adopted Myakka, a typical flatwoods soil, as the state soil to acknowledge the heritage that has made agriculture the state’s major industry.

On May 22, 1989, Governor Bob Martinez signed Senate bill number 524 into law, making Myakka Florida’s Official State Soil.

Small scale map of Florida showing distribution of Myakka soil series.
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