Monday, June 14, 2010

Pelican Beach Park, June 13, 2010

I went to this beach park looking for the fruit of the carissa plum, but found none, so ended up taking a few photos of beach plants. Found a couple of plants new to me and one mystery plant.

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Beach scenes

Left, looking north: sea oats, marshelder, and seagrape
Right, looking south: sea oats, cabbage palms, and condos

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Clouds

Left: sea oats, seagrapes, and a white ibis
Right: sea oats and cabbage palms
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Natal plum (Carissa macrocarpa, Apocynaceae)
Non-native
This plant is a shrub originally from South Africa, sometimes planted as a barrier to protect dunes. It bears fruit in summer and fall. The fruit turns red when ripe and can be made into jellies and preserves.
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Simpleleaf chastetree (Vitex trifolia, Lamiaceae)
Non-native
A fast-growing escape from cultivation; naturalized in disturbed areas.
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Stinging nettle (Cnidoscolus stimulosus, Euphorbiaceae)
Native
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Beach sunflower (Helianthus debilis, Asteraceae)
Native
The plant on the right is establishing itself on the beach side of the dunes.
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Coastal searocket (Cakile lanceolata, Brassicaceae)
Native
Top row: this plant was well past its prime.
Second row: A dead plant with seed pods.
Bottom row: Close-up of seed pods and a seed.
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Crested saltbush (Atriplex pentandra, Amaranthaceae)
Native

(tentative identification)
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 Leaf of sea oat showing salt deposits from sea spray
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Vente conmigo (Croton glandulosus, Euphorbiaceae)

This plant was growing near the dune crossover. Stem is stiff and bristly. A close-up photo shows that the bristles are star shaped. Plant identified August 3, 2010.
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1 comment:

  1. This is such a great resource. It is always satisfying to be able to identify the plants you're seeing, especially while visiting the beach. I also enjoyed beautiful milkweed and rust weed images in the previous post.

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