Tosohatchee Carphephorus and Celestial Lily, August 8, 2012

My wife, Julie, and I returned to Tosohatchee WMA on this day. The main purpose of this visit was to photograph small details of the Carphephorus that we found on the August 3, 2012 visit. I wanted to determine if we had C. carnosus or C. odoratissimus. There was an area along Fish Hole Rd. (about two-thirds the way to Charlie Lake) that had undergone a prescribed burn this past winter. Carphephorus and many other wildflowers had sprung up there. With the exception of the beautiful celestial lily, all the species shown in this post were found in that recovered burn area.

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Celestial lily; fallflowering ixia (Nemastylis floridana, Iridaceae)
Florida endemic, Endangered

This was a surprise find! After we had completed our main search and we were driving down Power Line Rd back to the entrance, a flash of blue caught our eyes. We backed up and discovered three celestial lilies in bloom on the ditch bank on the south side of the road. Celestial lily is unique in that it opens only from about 4 to 6 p.m. We were lucky to be at the right place and at the right time (about 5 p.m.). Interestingly, its close relative, the rare Bartram's ixia (Calydorea caelestina), does the opposite--it opens for only a few hours in early morning.

The only other celestial lily I had ever seen was in Tosohatchee a few hours before sunset (see Toso, Nov. 17, 2011). That one was growing in the shallow ditch on the east side of St. Nicholas Rd. It was short, so we were surprised that the three we found this time were very tall, about 3 ft. The first one was probably short because it was in an area that got frequent mowing. The tall ones along Power Line Rd were out of the path of the mowers and so were free to grow.

The close-up of the center of the flower shows 3 bright yellow stamens and the style that branches into 6 threads. Note that each pair of style threads straddles one of the stamens.

Celestial lily is found in swamps, marshes, and wet flatwoods.

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Pineland chaffhead (Carphephorus carnosus, Asteraceae)

Native, Florida endemic

There are 5 species of Carphephorus in Florida. Only one of them (C. carnosus) has the following characteristics: wide basal leaves, sharp-tipped bracts (phyllaries), and a hairy stem. Pineland chaffhead is found in wet flatwoods, which describes the area in which we found these growing.

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Nuttall's meadowbeauty (Rhexia nuttallii, Melastomataceae)

Native

The straight anthers and gland-tipped hairs on the hypanthium (2nd photo on right) help identify this plant as R. nuttallii. Since it was late in the day, the slightest touch caused the petals to fall off.

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Orange milkwort (Polygala lutea, Polygalaceae)

Native

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Thoroughwort (Eupatorium sp., Asteraceae)

Native

Seventeen species of Eupatorium are found in Florida. It will take more study for me to pin this one down. I've been calling similar plants Mohr's thoroughwort (E. mohrii), but that might not be correct in this case.

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Semaphore thoroughwort (Eupatorium mikanioides, Asteraceae)

Native, Florida endemic

Leaves are thickish and stiff.

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Oakleaf fleabane (Erigeron quercifolius, Asteraceae)

Native

 

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Skyflower (Hydrolea corymbosa, Hydroleaceae)

Native

Skyflowers were growing in the ditch on the west side of Fish Hole Rd., near the prescribed burn area.

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