Little Torch Key hotels collection

Little Torch Key takes its name from torchwood, a Keys shrub so resinous it burns when wet; torches were once made of it. The island lies low, fringed with mangroves on stilted roots. Across the water, on Big Pine Key, pines grow straight out of a limestone pitted with holes where rainwater stays fresh; Key deer, no taller than a dog, come to drink from them. Offshore, the reef of Looe Key bears the name of a British frigate that ran aground there; her ballast stones still lie on the bottom, among the corals.