Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Wickham Park: Inventory, April 27, 2011

My primary goal on this visit was to check if the yellow colicroots were blooming yet. They were. I also wanted to do a quick inventory of what was blooming. Along the way, I discovered a small Florida milkweed tucked under the basal leaves of an Adam's needle plant.

The park management has recently replowed the firebreaks, thereby wiping out a few areas of unique wildflowers and making walking very difficult.

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Re-plowed firebreaks

Left: trail on east side of youth camping area. Right: trail on north side of youth camping area.
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 Inventory

Above is a composite image of 36 wildflowers found in the park on this day. Most of them were in bloom. Since all of these wildflowers have been previously reported, you can see larger images elsewhere in this blog.

Row 1: meadowbeauty, coastalplain St.John's-wort, bay lobelia, mock bishopsweed, tasselflower, fourpetal St.John's-wort

Row 2: blackroot, capeweed, rough hedgehyssop, yellow stargrass, roserush, loblolly bay

Row 3: sensitive brier, beeblossom, primrosewillow, Spanish needles, bluehearts, dog fennel

Row 4: Mexican clover, coreopsis, cattails, caesarweed, tarflower, elephantsfoot

Row 5: partridge pea, Adam's needle, Florida milkweed, pricklypear cactus, beggarweed, whitetop aster

Row 6: milkpea, smilax, colicroot, rattlesnake master, palmetto, beargrass
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Florida milkweed (Asclepias feayi, Apocynaceae)
Florida endemic
It's always a surprise to find this small plant. I never know where it will pop up. This one, only about 6 in. high, was on the west side of the trail that runs along the east side of the youth camping area.
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Yellow colicroot (Aletris lutea, Nartheciaceae)
Native

I've found these plants in only one area of the park (the "boggy area," although it hasn't been very boggy lately). The basal leaves are very distinctive: young leaves are green, older ones turn yellow and orange, and leaves are rolled inward. There are over a dozen plants in this area, with at least half of them now in full bloom.
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Monday, April 18, 2011

Turkey Creek Sanctuary, April 18, 2011

This was just a quick check to see what was blooming in Turkey Creek Sanctuary. Found a few wildflowers (most would call them weeds) at the edge of the parking lot and took photos of plants in the butterfly garden. Not much blooming on the nature trail.
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Powderpuff (Mimosa strigillosa, Fabaceae)

This and the next four plants were found at the edge of the parking lot.
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Dixie ticktrefoil (Desmodium tortuosum, Fabaceae)
Not native

This is a tentative identification of this "beggar tick" plant.
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Hairy lespedeza (Lespedeza hirta, Fabaceae)
Native

I first saw this species along the nature trail in Turkey Creek in November 2010. It was a very robust, woody plant, eventually identified by the UF Herbarium, through Sally Scalera. I searched for it on this visit, but could not find any trace of it on the nature trail. This specimen was next to the parking lot.
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Showy rattlebox (Crotalaria spectabilis, Fabaceae)
Not native
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Southern beeblossom (Gaura angustifolia, Onagraceae)
Native
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Lanceleaf blanketflower (Gaillardia aestivalis, Asteraceae)
Native

This plant and the next six were found in the butterfly garden.
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Carolina wild petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis, Acanthaceae)
Native
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Bastard false indigo (Amorpha fruitcosa, Fabaceae)
Native
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Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens, Caprifloiaceae)
Native
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Tropical sage (Salvia coccinea, Lamiaceae)
Native
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Zarzabacoa comun (Desmodium incanum, Fabaceae)
Not native
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Yellow necklacepod (Sophora tomentosa var. truncata, Fabaceae)
Native

Although this plant is native to Brevard Co., I've never seen it in the wild—only in butterfly gardens and as landscape plantings.
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Skyblue lupine (Lupinus diffusus, Fabaceae)
Native

Found only this one plant with a few blossoms. All the others had turned to seed pods.
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Bigflower or scrub pawpaw (Asimina obvata, Annonaceae)
Native, Florida endemic

There are several of these large pawpaws along the nature trail. (Added "Florida endemic" Feb 20, 2012.)
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Pricklypear cactus (Opuntia humifusa, Cactaceae)
Native
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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Satellite Beach Post Office Swale: Spring Update, April 17 & 19, 2011

The swale on the north side of the Satellite Beach Post Office is filled with wildflowers. I photographed two dozen wildflowers (all natives) and probably overlooked at least another half-dozen. With its variety of soils, from moist in the middle to dry around the edges, the swale makes a pretty wildflower meadow. I found a new wildflower (Florida bellflower, in the wet areas of the swale) and a new shrub (Florida swampprivet, on a high, dry side).
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The swale meadow

Predominantly coreopsis and fleabane, with a few scattered sabatia.
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Leavenworth's tickseed (Coreopsis leavenworthii, Asteraceae)
Native
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Oakleaf fleabane (Erigeron quercifolius, Asteraceae)
Native
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Largeflower rosegentian (Sabatia grandiflora, Gentianaceae)
Native
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Narrowleaf blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium, Iridaceae)
Native
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Cricket

At first I thought I had found a cricket eating the edges of a pennywort, but the edges are brown, so maybe this cricket was just passing through.
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Whitemouth dayflower (Commelina erecta, Commelinaceae)
Native
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Baldwin's eryngo (Eryngium baldwinii, Apiaceae)
Native
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Ladiestresses (Spiranthes spp., Orchidaceae)
Native
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Mock bishopsweed (Ptilimnium capillaceum, Apiaceae)
Native
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Manyflower marshpennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata, Araliaceae)
Native
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Showy milkwort (Polygala violacea, Polygalaceae)
Native
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Florida bellflower (Campanula floridana, Campanulaceae)
Native, Florida endemic

This is a new wildflower for this blog. It 's a low, spreading plant that likes wet areas.
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Starrush whitetop (Rhynchospora colorata, Cyperaceae)
Native
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Fourleaf vetch (Vicia acutifolia, Fabaceae)
Native
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Hairypod cowpea (Vigna luteola, Fabaceae)
Native
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American bluehearts (Buchnera americana, Orobanchaceae)
Native

...with unidentified insect.
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Capeweed or frog fruit (Phyla nodiflora, Verbenaceae)
Native
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Common yellow woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata, Oxalidaceae)
Native
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Shrubby false buttonweed (Spermacoce verticillata, Rubiaceae)
Not native
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Virginia pepperweed (Lepidium virginicum, Brassicaceae)
Native
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Painted leaf, fire-on-the-mountain (Poinsettia cyathophora, Euphorbiaceae)
Native
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Snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea, Asteraceae)
Native

This is the only place I've seen this plant. Several of them are growing along the fence on the west side of the swale.
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Florida swampprivet (Forestiera segregata, Oleaceae)
Native

This was a new plant for me. It was growing in the fence west of the swale.
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Walter's groundcherry (Physalis walteri, Solanaceae)
Native
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Spanish needles, beggarticks (Bidens alba, Asteraceae)
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C-17 Globemaster

As I was exploring the swale, this military transport aircraft repeatedly passed overhead, practicing landings and takeoffs at Patrick AFB.
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