Florida Native Plant Society Blog

We are pleased to announce that the latest Sabal minor is out! We're South Florida-heavy this issue: Roger Hammer wrote a great article on Pine Rockland, Laurie Brooks wrote a comparison book review of Braiding Sweetgrass and Pastoral Song , and we celebrate the life of Lake Beautyberry member Barbara Grigg. Read it here .

TENNESSEE LEAFCUP,   Polymnia laevigata  Beadle Aster Family (Asteraceae) Submitted by Roger Hammer Polymnia laevigata,  photo by Roger Hammer The lower leaves of this species reach 6"–12" long and 4"–6" wide and are deeply and raggedly cut with pointed lobes, reducing in size up the stem with few or no lobes. The 3'–6' stems are glabrous (smooth). The flower heads are about ½" wide, subtended by a whorl of leafy bracts, and with 3-toothed ray florets and male disk florets.

ATLANTIC PIGEONWINGS,  Clitoria mariana  L. Pea Family (Fabaceae) Submitted by Roger Hammer, Dade Chapter The upper leaves of this vining species have 3 ovate to ovate-lanceolate leaflets that reach up to 2½" long and ¾" wide. The violet or pink flowers reach 2" long. A similar, related, endemic species ( Clitoria fragrans ) has narrower leaflets, sweetly fragrant flowers, and is known only from the Lake Wales Ridge in Lake, Orange, Polk, and Highlands Counties.

WITHLACOOCHEE NODDINGCAPS Triphora craigheadii  Luer Orchid Family (Orchidaceae) Submitted by Roger Hammer, Dade Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society The fragile, succulent stem of this native orchid averages 1"–2" tall with 1–4 broadly ovate, 3/8" leaves that are dark green above and purple below.  Flowers are about 3/16"  wide and last only 2 hours in the morning.  Plants often produce 2 buds that open a week apart. What this means is that you need to be standing in front of plants in bud during June and July at about 10:00 o’clock in the morning and, if you’re lucky, a flower will open. A clue to a bud opening is it stands straight up the day before if opens. Otherwise the buds are nodding. If you miss it, you’ll have one more chance the following week. If you miss that chance, then you’ll have to wait another year.

EASTERN BLUESTAR Amsonia tabernaemontana  Walter Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae) Submitted by Roger Hammer Eastern Bluestar, Rover Hammer, roadside ditch along SR65 near Apalachicola. This perennial wildflower reaches 3' tall with smooth stems and lanceolate to elliptic leaves from 3–4" long and ¾"­–1" wide (the uppermost leaves are sessile). It can form large, multi-stemmed clumps and is easy to see when in flower. Pale blue, ¾", star-shaped flowers are in terminal clusters. Flowering season begins in March and lasts into August so look for it in the floodplain forests of the Florida panhandle east to Columbia, Alachua, and Levy Counties. It ranges across the eastern United States to Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, and is on its southern range extension in Florida.

COMMON BLUE VIOLET, Viola sororia Willd. Violet Family (Violaceae) Submitted by Roger Hammer Viola sororia, photo by Roger Hammer The nearly orbicular, toothed leaves of this common species form a rosette measuring up to 3" across. The flowers reach ¾" wide and range from pale to rich blue (rarely white). It is not stoloniferous like many other members of the genus but may form dense colonies, especially along moist trails that bisect its habitat. It principally blooms from January through July in mesic forests throughout mainland Florida but plants may be found flowering throughout the year. In cultivation, it will spread from seed in pots and wherever there is moist, bare soil in shady situations. The seeds of many violets are explosively dehiscent and can be flung several feet away from the parent plant. Viola is the classical Latin name for a violet and the name sororia means “sisterly,” alluding to its similarity to other violets. It is the state wildflower of W...

Triodanis perfoliata  Bellflower Family (Campanulaceae) Photo and text submitted by Roger L. Hammer , Dade Chapter Venus’ looking-glass is a native herbaceous annual with hairy, ribbed stems and ovate to elliptic, alternate, clasping leaves that reach about ⅜"–¾" long. The axillary, sessile, 5-lobed flowers measure about ⅜" across.  Look for this species from February into May, mostly along roadsides and other disturbed sites through the Florida panhandle, across the northern peninsula, and south in the peninsula to Pinellas, Hillsborough, Hardee, Polk, Osceola, and Volusia counties. Globally it ranges from Argentina northward throughout the United States into British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. Native Americans made a tea of the roots and leaves to help relieve indigestion and also “to make one sick all day” as a treatment for overeating. The leaves were also smoked during ceremonies.         Triodanis  means ...

I could not think of a better native wildflower to feature in February than Yellow Jessamine,  Gelsemium sempervirens  . After reading Roger Hammer's sinister portrayal of this "pretty and evil” native, your appreciation for its lovely flower and fragrance will be restored by the poem “Yellow Jessamine” written by Constance Fenimore Woolson in 1874. Thank you to Peg Urban, who brought this poem to my attention when she remembered it from a past issue of the Palmetto .    CAROLINA JESSAMINE Gelsemium sempervirens (L.) W.T. Aiton Gelsemium Family (Gelsemiaceae) text and photos by Roger Hammer, Dade Chapter Carolina Jessamine, by Roger Hammer, Dade Chapter This twining vine has stems to 20' long with light green, lanceolate leaves from 1"–3" long and ½"–¾" wide. The fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers are about 1½" long and are typically present from January into April. Look for it in deciduous forests south...

Today's Wednesday's Wildflower features two species of Lupine, the Sandhill Lupine, submitted by Roger Hammer, and the Sundial Lupine, submitted by Bill Berthet. Edited by Valerie Anderson. Sandhill Lupine,  Lupinus cumulicola                                                          Text and photo by Roger Hammer, Dade Chapter Sandhill Lupine, Lupinus cumulicola , by Roger Hammer From January to May each year the white sand scrub on the Lake Wales Ridge in Lake, Osceola, Polk, and Highlands Counties are adorned with the cheery blue flowers of the Florida endemic skyblue lupine (pronounced LOO-PIN). Some botanists consider it a synonym of Lupinus diffusus but others argue that L. diffusus differs by its habitat, range, prostrate to decumbent stems, orbicular-reniform (kidney-shaped) standard, and a nearly straight beak on ...

Vachellia farnesiana ,   formerly   Acacia farnesiana Submitted by John Holyland, Mangrove Chapter Photo by John Holyland, Lemon Bay County Park, Englewood, Florida Sweet Acacia, (Pronunciation: uh-KAY-shuh far-nee-zee-AY-nuh), is a large shrub or small tree in the legume family. It is native to the Americas, including the Southern United States, Mexico, and the tropics. Sweet Acacia is fast growing and drought tolerant, making it good for landscapes, but it can suffer from root rot if too wet. As it is very thorny, with thorns on its trunks and branches, it should be placed away from walkways.  The oval yellow flowers, about 1-2 cm. in diameter, bloom in the winter. They are very fragrant and have a long history of being using to make perfume and scented ointments. The fruits are cylindrical green pods that will will turn purple as they age.  The thorny branches make good cover for birds and other wildlife, and bees love to forage in flowers.  ...

Grass-of-Parnassus or bog-stars Parnassia grandifolia Submitted by Roger Hammer Grass-of-Parnassus or bog-stars ( Parnassia grandifolia ) is one of Florida’s prettiest wildflowers. The oval, somewhat succulent, shiny leaf blades measure 1½"–4" long with long petioles (leaf stems), and the flowers measure 1½" wide with intricate green, brown, or yellow venation on the petals. Look for it flowering along shaded stream banks and cypress bogs in Liberty, Franklin, Putnam, and Marion Counties. The plant photographed was blooming in the Apalachicola National Forest in November 2016 but its bloom season lasts through December. Parnassia was named for Mount Parnassus in Greece and it is said that cattle grazing on the mountain relished eating the local Parnassia palustris , so the ancient Greeks made it an “honorary grass.” The name grandifolia relates to the large leaves compared to other species, which in no way resemble a grass. Some members of this genus live i...

A FNPS Education Committee Project By  Debra L. Klein, Chair with members Richard Brownscombe, Ellen Broderick and Kirsi Johnson Introduction A Walk in the Florida Dry Prairie began serendipitously at the May 2014 FNPS conference while at the Saturday night dinner social.  The Education Committee had an impromptu meeting with Richard Brownscombe, Ellen Broderick, joined by Kellie Westervelt, Cammie Donaldson and myself in attendance.  The idea of filming a field trip was floated with proposals of who should guide and what location.  Cammie suggested that the Friends of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park had asked Roger Hammer to guide a field trip planned for November 1, 2014.  Subsequently, Craig Huegel was also asked to join. Christina Evans of both the Florida Native Plant Society and Friends of KPPSP suggested that we use Jennifer Brown of Into Nature Films to do the video shoot. Work Plan With the whole team assembled, the Educa...

Sponsored by the Friends of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve When most people think of prairie they think of the Midwest; flat, treeless land with acres upon acres of wheat or corn. Few conjure an image of dwarf palmetto and wiregrass stretching to the horizon, interrupted only by sparse hammocks of cabbage palm and small seasonal ponds. Yet Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, located in rural Okeechobee, is just that. KPP protects the largest remaining tract of the unique Florida dry prairie. Its 54,000 acres contain a mosaic of dry prairie, wet prairie, marshes, sloughs, cabbage palm and oak hammocks, flood plain - no less than 14 distinct natural communities - which sustain a vast and diverse array of flora and fauna. This is prairie in Florida, shaped by the sea, maintained by frequent fire, and with its own history. This is the land made famous by author Patrick Smith in A Land Remembered . In the fall, the Florida dry prairie is ablaze with color and texture: rich yellow g...