Tosohatchee WMA: Southeastern Sunflowers, October 5, 2014

The main objective of this visit was to photograph the masses of southeastern sunflowers growing in the St. Johns River marsh, seen from the eastern end of Power Line Road. The sunflowers were past their peak, probably by at least a week, so the mass color was not as intense as we have seen. Many of the flowers had already gone to seed.

_______________________________________________________

Southeastern sunflowers, distant views

_______________________________________________________

Southeastern sunflowers, medium views

In some of these photos the seed heads can be seen clearly.

_______________________________________________________

Southeastern sunflowers, close

Hairs on the margins near the leaf base are diagnostic.

_______________________________________________________

Florida false sunflower (Phoebanthus grandiflorus, Asteraceae)

Native, Florida endemic

_______________________________________________________

Coastalplain hawkweed (Hieracium megacephalon, Asteraceae)

Native

_______________________________________________________

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

Native

_______________________________________________________

Catesby's lily; pine lily (Lilium catesbaei, Liliaceae)

Native, Florida threatened

Found only 4 specimens near the road.

_______________________________________________________

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

_______________________________________________________

Unidentified

This might be muck sunflower (Helianthus simlans) or perhaps smallfruit beggarticks (Bidens mitis). Insufficient views to be sure. Found only this one grouping.

_______________________________________________________

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.

_______________________________________________________

Frostweed; white crownbeard (Verbesina virginica, Asteraceae)

Native

_______________________________________________________

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.

_______________________________________________________

Tievine (Ipomoea cordatotriloba, Convolvulaceae)
Native

_______________________________________________________

Red maple (Acer rubrum, Sapindaceae)
Native

A touch of autumn, Florida style.

_______________________________________________________

Bald Eagles

We spotted a pair of eagles on a high-voltage line tower.

_______________________________________________________

Turkeys

Three turkeys slowly walked across the road ahead of us and vanished in the tall grass.

_______________________________________________________

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

One butterfly feasting on blossoms of white crownbeard.

_______________________________________________________