Brazilian-Pepper in 3-D

Earlier this year, I photographed the fruits of the notoriously invasive Brazilian-pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius). While studying the images later that day, I realized that I could combine two of the images to make a 3-D gif. Such gifs are interesting because they achieve a 3-D effect by wiggling two images back and forth. The appeal of such gifs is that no glasses, special equipment, or effort is needed to see the 3-D effect.

Above is a regular image of the Brazilian-pepper. Below, is the same image which I have combined with a second image to produce a 3-D gif.

Images and text © 2013 Rufino Osorio

Antigonon leptopus – Coral Vine

Warning: Antigonon leptopus is listed as a Category 2 invasive pest plant by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council. It is included here only as an aid to identification and not to promote its cultivation in any way whatsoever.

Coral vine, Antigonon leptopus, is a vigorous, long-lived, evergreen, tendril-climbing vine native to Mexico and possibly also to western Guatemala. It grows from large, tuberous roots and is extremely difficult to eradicate since any piece of the tubers left in the ground can produce a new plant. It is capable of tolerating extreme adversity, such as prolonged drought, once it is established since it will die back to the ground and sprout new stems once conditions have ameliorated. The heart-shaped leaves are deeply veined and the plant bears pretty pink, or rarely white, flowers during the warmer months of the year, or nearly year around in warm climates.

Coral vine grows aggressively and can produce a smothering blanket over trees as high as 40 feet. It is usually found in disturbed sites but is occasionally found along the edges of forests, where it tolerates a wide range in the level of light and soil moisture. The image shows a plant that is established behind the nature center building at Okeeheelee County Park in Palm Beach County, Florida. Nearly all of the foliage in the image belongs to a non-native Dioscorea species (wild yam), probably Dioscorea alata, which is another non-native vine that is listed as invasive in Florida. Also visible in the image is the foliage of the native shrub, myrsine (Myrsine cubana), and the native vine, wild grape (Vitis rotundifolia).

Image and text © 2013 Rufino Osorio

Daylilies

Day-lily flowers are usually bright and showy, but they last but a single day.

On Saturday, May 26, 2012, I stopped briefly at the garden of Robert Hopper and photographed several of the half dozen or so cultivars of day-lilies that he is growing. Garden day-lilies are derived from species of Hemerocallis, a genus native to Eurasia. One species with orange flowers, Hemerocallis fulva, is an extremely aggressive and invasive pest plant that has escaped from cultivation nearly throughout the United States and eastern Canada. A second species, Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus, with yellow flowers, is almost as widespread outside of cultivation, while Hemerocallis minor has escaped in Oregon. Due to their tendency to escape from cultivation and become invasive, gardeners should not cultivate day-lilies that regularly form seed pods or that form large vegetative colonies from underground rhizomes. Fortunately, modern hybrid cultivars have less of a tendency to become invasive since they usually do not readily form seeds and they commonly grow in better behaved clumps.

This day-lily cultivar has cheery yellow flowers and is growing with the native Florida greeneyes (Berlandiera pumila).

Images and text © 2012 Rufino Osorio

Tithonia rotundifolia

Tithonia rotundifolia (Miller) S.F. Blake is an annual native to Mexico and Central America. Depending on the plant's genetics and growing conditions, it grows 3–6 feet tall. It is grown for its large, brilliant orange-red daisies, these being used as cut flowers or as a source of nectar in butterfly gardens. The plant is a serious invasive pest plant in some countries but it is not regarded as invasive in the United States, where it has sparingly escaped cultivation in Florida and Louisiana.

In my garden, plants of Tithonia rotundifolia were severely attacked by various insect pests and a plant virus almost as soon as they germinated and the severely weakened plants barely survived long enough for me to obtain the photograph above before promptly dying without setting seeds. In view of this plant's invasive tendencies in various tropical and subtropical regions, I did not consider its early demise in my garden unfortunate.

© 2010 Rufino Osorio.

Glycosmis parviflora

Warning: Glycosmis parviflora has a very high potential of becoming an invasive pest plant. It should not be cultivated in the warm-temperate, subtropical, or tropical regions of the United States and all occurrences outside of cultivation should be promptly destroyed. It is included here only as an aid to identification and not to promote its cultivation in any way whatsoever.

Young potted plant only 19 inches (0.5 meters) tall but freely flowering and fruiting.

Glycosmis is a genus of approximately 50 species of unarmed shrubs or trees in the citrus family (Rutaceae) native to eastern, southern, and southeastern Asia, with a few species also in Australia. The genus can be distinguished from all other members of the citrus family in Florida, both native and introduced, by the following combination of traits: (1) plant unarmed and lacking spines; (2) fruit a fleshy berry; and (3) terminal and axillary buds, and often the young inflorescences, covered with tiny rust-colored hairs or scales.

Close-up of an axillary bud covered with tiny rust-colored hairs.

One species, Glycosmis parviflora (Sims) Little, has become established outside of cultivation in the United States, where it has been recorded from Broward and Miami-Dade counties and the Monroe County keys. Originally native to China, Taiwan, Japan, Myanmar, and northeast Vietnam (Dianxiang & Hartley 2008), it was introduced into the United States as a curiosity of ethnobotanical interest and as possible genetic material in the breeding of citrus fruits (Wiersema & León 1999:243). Plants identical to Glycosmis parviflora appear in a wide variety of internet sites under the name Glycosmis pentaphylla; however, every instance of Glycosmis pentaphylla that I have seen on the internet shows images of a plant with leaflets that have entire or slightly wavy margins, which are typical of Glycosmis parviflora. In contrast, Dianxiang & Hartley (2008) state that the leaflets of Glycosmis pentaphylla have toothed (serrated) margins.

The species epithet, parviflora, means tiny flowers.

Glycosmis parviflora displays the following attributes that are associated with invasiveness: (1) Young plants are shade tolerant; (2) plants begin flowering and fruiting when less than two feet tall and less than three years of age; (3) plants are self-fertile and abundantly produce fruit, even when growing in isolation; (4) in warm regions, flowers and fruits are borne throughout the year; (5) relatively pest free; and (6) fruit dispersed by vertebrates (birds and mammals). Although it is not presently listed as an invasive plant, it should be watched closely and all occurrences outside of cultivation should be promptly destroyed.

References:

• Dianxiang, Z. and T.G. Hartley. 2008. In Z.Y. Wu, P.H. Raven, and D.Y. Hong (eds.) Flora of China: Volume 11. Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis). Internet PDF
• Wiersema, J.H. and B. León. 1999. World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

 

© 2010 Rufino Osorio.

Silybum marianum – Blessed Milk Thistle

Warning: Silybum marianum has been listed as an invasive pest plant or noxious weed. It is included here only as an aid to identification and not to promote its cultivation in any way whatsoever.

Flowering plant in coastal California sage scrub. © 2010 Joseph Libertucci. Used by permission.

Silybum marianum is a biennial or winter annual originally native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, western Asia (Israel and Turkey), and northern Africa (Egypt). It is now widely established outside of cultivation as a weed in tropical and southern Africa, northern Europe, the British Isles, Australia and New Zealand, and North and South America. It is readily identified by the spiny leaves that are conspicuously variegated, as well as by the flower heads, which are subtended by bracts whose tips expand into a leafy, spine-tipped appendage.

Foliage of young plant. © by Valérie75 2006. Used under a Creative Commons license.

Milk thistle seed extract (silymarin) has shown promise in the treatment of liver diseases, cancer, hepatitis C, HIV, diabetes, and high cholesterol, as well as protective effects against liver damage by poisonous mushrooms; however, there have been few high-quality randomized clinical trials to conclusively prove the therapeutic effects of milk thistle (see, for example, Tamayo & Diamond 2007).

Seedling. © by Beentree 2008. Used under a Creative Commons license.

Silybum marianum was touted as an ornamental garden plant in the 1980s and seeds were widely available from mailorder garden catalogs; however, its popularity has waned as gardeners realized that it dies after flowering and they must then deal with a large mass of dry and wickedly spiny foliage. It is still widely sold as an herb garden or medicinal plant but the therapeutic properties are contained in seed extracts and such extracts are easier to purchase ready-made than to make at home from seeds harvested in the garden. In several states, Silybum marianum is an invasive pest plant or a declared noxious weed. Thus, in view of its weedy nature as well as its toxicity to livestock, its cultivation should not be encouraged.

USDA Distribution Map

 

References:

• Tamayo, C. and S. Diamond. 2007. Review of clinical trials evaluating safety and efficacy of milk thistle (Silybum marianum [L.] Gaertn.) [abstract]. Integrative Cancer Therapies 6(2): 146–157.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Silybum marianum. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Internet

Text © 2010 Rufino Osorio. All images copyrighted by their respective owners as indicated above.

Solenostemon scutellarioides - Coleus

The common garden coleus can be highly invasive in moist or wet tropical forests.

© 2009 Rufino Osorio. All rights reserved.