What's Blooming - in Wooded
Areas along the Trails and Rivers in Florida
To
report what’s blooming along roads in your area, e-mail the site
location (and photo, if you have one) to executivedirector@floridawildflowerfoundation.org
with “Wildflower Trails and
Rivers”
in the subject line,We would prefer that all photos be reduced to 72 dots per
inch (dpi) and not larger than 4 to 6 inches wide.
Please note: You
must own the rights to any photo you send the Florida Wildflower
Foundation. The submission of a
photo or photos to the Foundation for this feature gives the
organization permission to post it on its Web site. The Foundation is not responsible for photos
that are
copied from its Web site and displayed elsewhere. Please note the
photographer’s name so we can credit him or her.
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6-6-2009: I traveled south on State
Road A1A from Melbourne Beach to Coconut Point Sanctuary, a 62-acre
property managed by the Environmentally Endangered Lands Program of
Brevard County.
The
Florida Fiddlewood (Citharexylum
spinosum) was blooming profusely. Fiddlewood is a small tree or
shrub that grows in coastal areas of Central and South Florida,
including the Keys. The berries provide a food source for
wildlife.
The
Gopher Apple (Licania michauxii),
another important wildlife food source, was blooming in large areas of
this sanctuary. The Gopher Tortoises should have plenty of tasty
fruit available in a few months. This native plant grows in most of
Florida and also ranges into nearby states.
- Photos by Vince Lamb
3-9-2009: Stumbled
over this little "shiny blueberry" plant (Vaccinium myrsinites) in
bloom today inside the Seminole State Forest during a hike through the
scrub and sandhills there. The Forest straddles a number of diverse
upland and low habitats, and is often a place you can have to
yourself. Even when not in bloom, the plant is a wonderful study
in
miniature with its tiny bright green and red leaves. Today, all of the
plants I saw were chock full of blossoms. Later this spring they'll
morph into blueberries and make the Florida black bears who live here
very happy!
- photographed by Bill Belleville, Sanford
11-1-2008: A queen
butterfly stops for a sip of slender flattop goldenrod (Euthamia
caroliniana) in Long Leaf Pine Preserve
- Photographed by
Lisa Roberts, Florida Wildflower Foundation executive director
11-1-2008: This
delicate Glade Lobelia (Lobelia
glandulosa) was found during a recent
tromp in Long Leaf Pine Preserve, a new Volusia County purchase. The
preserve is in East Volusia off State Road 44.
- Photographed by
Lisa Roberts, Florida Wildflower Foundation executive director
11-4-2008: 11-4-2008: Titusville
Balm (Dicerandra thinicola) at
Dicerandra Scrub Sanctuary in Titusville This endangered plant,
endemic to North Brevard County, grows in a sanctuary bearing its name.
Submitted
by Vince Lamb, Florida Native Plant Society.
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Titusville Balm (Dicerandra thinicola)
blooming at Dicerandra Scrub Sanctuary in Titusville.
Submitted by Vince Lamb, Florida Native Plant Society. |
9-29-2008: Liatris (blazing star) in
bloom just outside Blue Springs State Park.
Reported and
photographed by Jenny Welch with Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society
5-2-2008: A clutch
of hooded pitcherplants bloom in Rock Springs Run State Reserve, a
massive DEP tract along the middle Wekiva River, south of State Road 46
in Lake County. The plants migrated from an adjacent bog into the
deeper, moister ruts of a fire-break road. Several hundred thrive
there, and I look forward every season to seeing them in bloom. This is
Sarracenia minor,
unlike the open-hooded trumpet pitcherplant (S.
flava) that William Bartram described in north Florida. I’ve
always
appreciated the old naturalist’s passion, and particularly enjoyed the
way he referred to another carnivorous Florida plant as a “sportive”
vegetable.
Reported by Bill
Belleville, Sanford
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