In May 2012, my wife and I spent several days exploring the Florida panhandle looking for interesting wildflowers. This area had been reported as being especially rich in wildflower species (see my post "Panhandle Wildflowers, May 12-14, 2012." The area lived up to its reputation: I photgraphed 24 species that were new to me and this blog.
On June 10, 2014, we made a brief return excursion to the Florida panhandle, in particular a short stretch of SR 65 in the Apalachicola National Forest, Liberty County. That road has an amazing variety of wildflowers. Our "bible" for panhandle wildflower exploration is the "Wildflower Survey, 2010: Panhandle,"compiled by Jeff Norcini and Gil Nelson. Especially useful is an appendix to the report that lists the native species that occur along several panhandle roads, including SR 65. In this post, I refer to this list as the "Survey List." The following map shows some of the wildflower routes surveyed by Norcini and Nelson. We had only one morning to devote to wildflower photography, so we limited ourselves to a length of about 1.5 miles along SR 65, an area designated as PhotoSite Number 1 (1-N to 1-S) on the map. In this one small area, I photographed about 30 species (including 2 non-natives), with 4 of them new to me and this blog.
Panhandle Wildflower Routes
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Yellow colicroot (Aletris lutea, Nartheciaceae)
Native
Native
According to the Survey List, there are two yellow colicroots along SR 65. The other one is golden colicroot (A. aurea). The two are separated by the length of the perianth: A. lutea has a relatively long perianth (2-3 times as long as wide at the mouth), while the A. aurea perianth is relatively stumpy (1-1.5 times as long as wide at the mouth). The long, narrow perianth of this specimen identifies it as A. lutea.
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Golden crest (Lophiola aurea, Nartheciaceae)
Native
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Native
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One possibility is Dichanthelium boscii. I thought this broad-leafed grass made a pretty picture, backlit by the early morning sun.
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Savannah meadowbeauty (Rhexia alifanus, Melastomataceae)
Native
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Native
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Yellow meadowbeauty (Rhexia lutea, Melastomataceae)
Native
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Savannah primrosewillow (Ludwigia virgata, Onagraceae)
Native
Native
Savannah primrosewillow (Ludwigia virgata, Onagraceae)
Native
Sepals reflexed, 2 times length of capsule.
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Native
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Virginia willow (Itea virginica, Iteaceae)
Native
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Forest Road 105
Near the north end of our wildflower excursion.
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Near the north end of our wildflower excursion.
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Prairie fleabane (Erigeron strigosus, Asteraceae)
Native
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Native
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South American mock vervain; moss verbena (Glandularia aristigera, Verbenaceae)
Not native
An invasive species, commonly seen along roadsides.
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Not native
Dwarf St.John's-wort (Hypericum mutilum, Clusiaceae)
Native
Foxtail club-moss (Lycopodiella alopecuroides, Lycopodiaceae)
Native
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Native
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Native
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Gulf purple pitcherplant; decumbent pitcherplant (Sarracenia rosea, Sarraceniaceae)
Native
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Native
Seed capsules of Tracey's sundew (Drosera tracyi) can be seen in the right-hand photo in the 3rd row in the background to the right of the pitcherplant.
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Pink sundew (Drosera capillaris, Droseraceae)
Native
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Native
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Views of the area
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Native
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Yelloweyed grass (Xyris spp.)
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Orange milkwort (Polygala lutea, Polygalaceae)
Native
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Tall pinebarren milkwort (Polygala cymosa, Polygalaceae)
Native
There are two similar Polygalas: P. cymosa and P. ramosa. Both are on the Survey List. One characteristic that separates them is their height. P. ramosa is under 1-ft tall; P. cymosa is up to 3-ft tall. From the photos, these specimens appear to be over 1-ft tall. There are other and better ID characteristics: basal leaves present or often absent at time of blooming and stem solid or hollow; characteristics which I did not capture in photos.
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Native
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Native
This was a surprise! The blossoms looked like mountain laurel, and it turned out that this close relative of mountain laurel is on the Survey List.
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Southern beeblossom (Gaura angustifolia, Onagraceae)
Native
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Not native
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Native
On our way back north on SR 65, we spied some spots of bright red-orange off in the woods. It looked like a milkweed to me, so I photographed it with my telephoto lens. After examining the photo back home, I concluded it was fewflower milkweed based on its general appearance and the fact that it is the only red-orange milkweed in the Survey List.
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This might be dogfennel (Eupatorium capillifolium) in its early growth stages.
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Titi (Cyrilla racemiflora, Cyrillaceae)
Native
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