Return to Cruickshank Sanctuary, June 13, 2010

My previous visit was on June 9, 2010. The main reason for a return so soon was to see if one of my unidentified plants had bloomed, possibly producing diagnostic flowers. It had not. But I did find several wildflowers I had overlooked before.

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 Curtiss' milkweed (Asclepias curtissii, Apocynaceae)
Native, Florida endemic; rare and endangered.

This is the rare milkweed I had found on June 9. Two of the flower heads are now fully open. One had several peculiar flies feeding on it. The other one had a spider lying in wait.

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Rustweed (Polypremum procumbens, Tetrachondraceae)
Native

I'm still trying to get a good shot of this tiny flower.

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Rustweed

At first I thought this was a new unidentified wildflower, but a close-up of the tiny flowers shows that it is a rustweed. Note the sepals alternate with the petals, as in rustweed. This plant's growth seems anomalous--it's in a tight,bushy cluster, instead of more open as in other rustweed plants in the area.

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Feay's palafox (Palafoxia feayi, Asteraceae)
Native, Florida endemic

I had overlooked this wildflower on my previous visit. It typically grows in dry, sandy soil.

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Florida scrub roseling (Callisia ornata, Commelinaceae)
Native

I found four more roseling plants and couldn't resist taking a few more photographs of this beautiful and delicate flower. Note in the right-hand photo a crab spider is ready to ambush any passing insect. I find that about half of my wildflower photos reveal an insect or spider that I did not see when I took the photograph.

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Pineland Scalypink Stipulicida setacea, Caryophyllaceae)

Native

This turned out to be a mystery plant I had included in the June 9 collection. The close-ups might be a little better this time. (Note: This plant has now been identifed as Pineland Scalypink, Stipulicida setacea, Caryophyllaceae Family. See post for August 16, 2010.)

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Pineland pinweed (Lechea sessiliflora, Cistaceae)
Native

I had found this nondescript little plant on my June 9 visit. I thought the little pink tips would have developed into flowers that would help me identify it, but there appears to be no change since last time. I photographed one of the branches against a white card (bottom photo). The plant arises from a single, woody stem.(Note: the plant has since been identified as Pineland pinweed, Lechea sessiliflora; July 5, 2012.)

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American white waterlily (Nymphaea odorata, Nymphaeaceae)
Native

Water lilies are in the drainage ditch on the west side of the entrance trail.

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Coastalplain St.John's-wort (Hypericum brachyphyllum, Clusiaceae)
Native

Large, golden patches of St.John's-wort are growing on the east side of the entrance trail. The bottom photo shows the equal-length sepals.

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Fourpetal St.John's-wort (Hypericum tetrapetalum, Clusiaceae)
Native

Note the unequal pairs of sepals and the clasping leaves.

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Rough hedgehyssop (Gratiola hispida, Scrophulariaceae)
Native

I identified this one at home, after a bit of searching through books.

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Yellow hatpins (Syngonanthus flavidulus, Eriocaulaceae)
Native

These were found in a dry, sandy area. In Wickham Park, the hatpins are usually in areas with moist soil. The flowering heads are white, so I don't know why they are called "yellow hatpins."

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Carolina redroot (Lachnanthes caroliana, Haemodoraceae)
Native

I have now left the dry, sandy area and am in the boggy area. I took this picture to show how the flowering heads of the redroot have grown since June 9.

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Oakleaf fleabane (Erigeron quercifolius, Asteraceae)
Native

I overlooked this one on my June 9 visit.

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Elliott's yelloweyed grass (Xyris elliottii, Xyridaceae)

A large patch of yelloweyed grass grows in the trail through the boggy area.

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Unidentified #3 (from June 9 visit)

Plants of this species grow in the muddy areas of the trail. I have included it here in case I captured a better close-up of the flowers. [I believe I have now narrowed this one down to one of the knotweeds or smartweeds (genus Polygonum). Need more details to identify particular species. -- June 21, 2010.]

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Broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus, Poaceae)
Native

Leaving boggy area. Broom sedge is a common grass in pine flatwoods.

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Falsefennel (Eupatorium leptophyllum, Asteraceae)
Native

Back home in north Florida, we called this "dog fennel." We used green branches of it to thatch "forts" we built in the pine woods. We used the dry, light-weight stems for kite frames.

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Gopher apple (Licania michauxii, Chrysoballanaceae)
Native

The strikingly patterned fly on the right had been feeding on the gopher apple blossoms.

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Spider and web

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