Tosohatchee WMA, March 9, 2014: Irises

Tosohatchee is famous for its its springtime displays of irises. As we had hoped, we found some in bloom during this visit. 

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Dixie iris; prairie iris (Iris hexagona, Iridaceae)

Native

The irises were probably several weeks shy of peak blooming. We found quite a few in the wet ditches along Beehead Rd, Power Line Rd, and Fish Hole Rd. Most were single blossoming plants, but there were a few groups of iris. Emerging iris leaves were everywhere, waiting to bloom.

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Fourpetal St.John's-wort (Hypericum tetrapetalum, Clusiaceae)
Native

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Sand blackberry (Rubus cuneifolius, Rosaceae)
Native

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Small butterwort (Pinguicula pumila, Lentibulariaceae)
Native

A tiny, carnivorous plant. Traps insects on its sticky, basal leaves. A relative of yellow butterwort, shown later in this post.

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Purple thistle (Cirsium horridulum, Asteraceae)
Native

Well-named thistle; horribly thorny!

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Smallfruit beggarticks (Bidens mitis, Asteraceae)
Native

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Bog white violet (Viola lanceolata, Violaceae)
Native

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Narrowleaf blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium, Iridaceae)
Native

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Bay lobelia (Lobelia feayana, Campanulaceae)
Native, Florida endemic

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 Fringed yellow stargrass (Hypoxis juncea, Hypoxidaceae)
Native

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Orange milkwort (Polygala lutea, Polygalaceae)
Native

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Yellow butterwort (Pinguicula lutea, Lentibulariaceae)
Native

These carnivorous plants were also found in the same place on February 10, 2014.

The upper left photo shows the location of the yellow butterwort group (lower right in photo) along St. Nicholas Rd (looking towards Power Line Rd).

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 Shiny blueberry (Vaccinium myrsinites, Ericaceae)
Native

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American snowbell (Styrax americanus, Styracaceae)
Native

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Yellow jessamine (Gelsemium semperviren, Gelsemiaceae)
Native

This blossom was on the ground near the picnic tables on the short road/trail running east from Fish Hole Rd. Since we didn't find any yellow jessamine vines in the area, we suspect the blossom was picked elsewhere and dropped here.

Note the basket-weave appearance of the throat, a characteristic of yellow jessamine blossoms.

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Hairypod cowpea (Vigna luteola, Fabaceae)
Native

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Creek in Springtime

This creek crosses Fish Hole Creek Rd (it might even be Fish Hole Creek!). New, bright-green leaves are emerging on the pond cypress in the left foreground.

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Smouldering

 Along Fish Hole Rd, a recent prescribed burn is still smoking in places.

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Coastalplain willow (Salix caroliniana, Salicaceae)
Native

Shown here are the male catkins. The female catkins (not shown) produce fuzzy, cottony seed heads.

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Hedge false bindweed (Calystegia sepium subsp. limnophila, Convolvulaceae)
Native

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Spatterdock; yellow pondlily (Nuphar advena, Nymphaeaceae)
Native

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Common blue violet (Viola sororia, Violaceae)
Native

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Charlie Lake

Bald eagle nest near center.

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Closer view of eagle nest

One eagle on the nest and one perched nearby.

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Butterweed (Packera glabella, Asteraceae)
Native

An early spring wildflower. This specimen was located at the southern end of Fish Hole Rd, just before the road goes under SR 528. Butterweed stems are tall, smooth, ribbed, hollow, and succulent. We saw a few patches of butterweed near SR 520 and the St. Johns River.

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Turkey Creek Sanctuary, March 2, 2014

The main purpose of this visit was to see if the skyblue lupine were in bloom. They were, but we found only one  small patch.

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Showy rattlebox (Crotalaria spectabilis, Fabaceae)
Not native

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Shiny blueberry (Vaccinium myrsinites, Ericaceae)

Native

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Apalachicola toadflax (Linaria floridana, Plantaginaceae)

Native

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Skyblue lupine (Lupinus diffusus, Fabaceae)

Native

The large patches of lupine that we used to see here, seem to have disappeared. We found only this one small patch, growing behind a bench along the trail.

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Powder-puff lichen; deer moss (Cladonia evansii)

Native

According to the trail guide, this lichen is endangered by loss of scrub habitat.

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Largeflower false rosemary (Conradina grandiflora, Lamiaceae)

Native, Florida endemic, threatened.

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Rosary pea (Abrus precaorius, Fabaceae)

Not native

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Wild olive; American devilwood (Osmanthus americanus, Oleaceae)

Native

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Pignut hickory (Carya glabra, Juglandaceae)

Native

The last photo shows the staminate (male) flowers, or catkins.

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Red blanket lichen (Chiodectron sanguineum)

Native

According to the trail guide, this lichen is found on scrub oaks and the deeper the red color, the cleaner the air quality of the surrounding area.

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Southern needleleaf (Tillandsia setacea, Bromeliaceae)

Native

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Flowering oak

This distant tree appears to be an oak, possibly a live oak, covered with yellowish catkins.

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 Rusty staggerbush; rusty lyonia (Lyonia ferruginea, Ericaceae)

Native

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Tosohatchee, February 10, 2014

A morning visit to Tosohatchee. Found three unusual species: Yellow jessamine, wooly sunbonnets, and yellow butterwort (all 3 previously found in Toso in February 2013).

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Lyreleaf sage (Salvia lyrata, Lamiaceae)
Native

Along Beehead Rd. The only blooming lyreleaf sage I noticed.

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Resurrection fern

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Yellow jessamine (Gelsemium semperviren, Gelsemiaceae)
Native

Along Beehead Rd. The only yellow jessamine we saw, although there appeared to be several vines along the road.

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Sand blackberry (Rubus cuneifolius, Rosaceae)
Native

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Smallfruit beggarticks (Bidens mitis, Asteraceae)
 Native

Found only a few of these.

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Wooly sunbonnets; pineland daisy (Chaptalia tomentosa, Asteraceae)
Native

A few of these were growing on both sides of St. Nicolas Rd, between Beehead Rd and Power Line Rd.

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Yellow butterwort (Pinguicula lutea, Lentibulariaceae)
Native

A carnivorous plant. Tiny insects are trapped on the sticky basal leaves and digested. Found about a half-dozen plants on east side of St. Nicholas Rd, about halfway between Beehead Rd and Power Line Rd.

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Fourleaf vetch (Vicia acutifolia, Fabaceae)
Native

At intersection of Power Line Rd and Fish Hole Rd.

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Bog white violet (Viola lanceolata, Violaceae)
Native

Widespread along roadsides.

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Leavenworth's tickseed (Coreopsis leavenworthii, Asteraceae)
Native

Found only a few plants.

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Bay lobelia (Lobelia feayana, Campanulaceae)
Native, Florida endemic

Found only one plant, along Fish Hole Rd.

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Puffball Fungi

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Phaon crescent butterfly

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Yellow-rumped warbler

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Red saddlebags dragonfly

This dragonfly was actually photographed in Wickham Park in November 2013.

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