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Southeastern sunflowers, distant views
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Southeastern sunflowers, medium views
In some of these photos the seed heads can be seen clearly.
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Hairs on the margins near the leaf base are diagnostic.
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Florida false sunflower (Phoebanthus grandiflorus, Asteraceae)
Native, Florida endemic
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Coastalplain hawkweed (Hieracium megacephalon, Asteraceae)
Native
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Coastalplain St. John's-wort (Hypericum brachyphyllum, Clusiaceae)
Native
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Catesby's lily; pine lily (Lilium catesbaei, Liliaceae)
Native, Florida threatened
Found only 4 specimens near the road.
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Pale meadowbeauty (Rhexia mariana, Melastomataceae)
Native
The relatively long throat of the "urn" helps identify this plant as R. mariana.
I'm still intrigued by the mysterious, delicate, spur-like attachments to the anthers of meadowbeauties. Are the presence of spurs useful in identifying the species? What is the function of the spurs?
Here are some of my findings from an online search (I viewed selected content of these books at Amazon.com).
The NY Botanical Garden Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, 2nd Edition, 1991, says this about the spurs: "anthers unilocular at anthesis, each opening by a single terminal pore, in most spp. (not R. petiolata) elongate-linear, curved, and prolonged at the base 0.5-1 mm below and internal to the filament tip; connective* with a short, fragile, spur-like appendage externally at the base."
The Plants of Pennsylvania, by Ann Fowler Rhoads and Timothy A. Block, Copyright 2007. Under Melastomataceae the authors state: "stamens 8, with a conspicuous spur-like appendage attached to each anther." This implies the spurs are a characteristic of (all? most?) species within the Melastomataceae family.
From the 1882 book, Wild Flowers of America, by George L. Goodale, under the heading Meadow Beauty, Rhexia virginica, the author states: "A second striking characteristic is found in the anthers which in most of the genera are long and somewhat curved, and are provided with a noticeable appendage of some sort, derived from the connective*. In the species of Rhexia the stamens are shorter than the petals, and they do not all possess the appendages observed in many of their relatives. In this species, however, the point where the anther is united to the filament which bears it, there is a short and slender process, somewhat recurved, appearing like a minute spur at the back of the connective. The pollen consists of extremely minute grains which escape through a pore at the apex of the tapering anther. In Nuttall's Botany, the statement is made that the anthers emit their pollen through a single clandestine pore, situated at the the junction of the anther with the filament, 'the pore guarded by a single seta**.'"
*Connective = the part of an anther that connects the anther cells.
** Seta = bristle or hair-like structure
** Seta = bristle or hair-like structure
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Unidentified
This might be muck sunflower (Helianthus simlans) or perhaps smallfruit beggarticks (Bidens mitis). Insufficient views to be sure. Found only this one grouping.
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Unidentified
When I took the photo I assumed this fluffy, white thing was vegetable, but after seeing it enlarged, I've decided it is a downy feather from an unknown bird.
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Frostweed; white crownbeard (Verbesina virginica, Asteraceae)
Native
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Swamp rosemallow (Hibiscus grandiflorus, Malvaceae)
Native
In July, before the arrival of southeastern sunflowers, rosemallows reigned in the marshes. All that remains of the rosemallows now are tall, brown stalks and seed pods.
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Tievine (Ipomoea cordatotriloba, Convolvulaceae)
Native
Native
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Red maple (Acer rubrum, Sapindaceae)
Native
Native
A touch of autumn, Florida style.
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Bald Eagles
We spotted a pair of eagles on a high-voltage line tower.
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Turkeys
Three turkeys slowly walked across the road ahead of us and vanished in the tall grass.
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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
One butterfly feasting on blossoms of white crownbeard.
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