Hibiscus aculeatus – Pineland Hibiscus

Hibiscus aculeatus is a perennial hibiscus native to the southeastern United States coastal plain in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, as well as in Hardin County, Texas. In late winter or spring, it produces thick, somewhat woody, ascending to erect stems with alternate, deeply lobed, roughly hairy leaves. It begins to flower soon thereafter and can continue flowering so long as moist to wet conditions prevail. The flowers are comparatively large—note that they are larger than the leaves—and are very showy as a result of their pale yellow to creamy white color with a contrasting maroon-red eye. If pollinated by bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds, they are soon followed by rather large capsules that are covered with coarse, sharp hairs.

As is apparent from its common name, pineland hibiscus frequently occurs in wet pine flatwoods, but it is also found in bogs, savannas, and roadside ditches. Unlike many other southeastern United States hibiscus, it often occurs where there is no permanent standing water and perhaps this is the reason that it is the easiest of southeastern native hibiscus to grow under ordinary garden conditions in a perennial border. Hibiscus aculeatus is extremely drought tolerant and, under adverse conditions, will produce only one or two short stems; however, under ideal conditions, it will form a large, bushy mass with many stems up to 3 feet (0.9 meters) tall and about as wide or wider. Self-sown seedlings have been few and welcomed in my dryish garden but I would imagine that it would spread from seed far more aggressively if provided with continually moist soil in sunny, open areas free from taller competing plants. In autumn or early winter, the deceptively woody stems die back to the ground and, in formal garden situations, will need to be cut down, otherwise, it requires no other maintenance. It is not particularly bothered by pests except the occasional aphid or scale, but rarely to any serious extent. Due to its ease of cultivation and value in attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, it is a welcome addition to the garden and is recommended wherever one can provide a moist, sunny spot for this attractive and easily grown hibiscus.

In Florida, Hibiscus aculeatus occurs throughout the panhandle as well as much of northern Florida, from which it extends south to Lake County. In spite of its northern distribution, it is remarkably adaptable and my original plant, first placed in the ground in February 1996, is still with me, more than 16 years later, in my southern Florida garden. Another common name for Hibiscus aculeatus is comfort root, this being an allusion to the soothing, comforting qualities of its mucilage-containing roots.

Images and text © 2012 Rufino Osorio

Psychotria nervosa – Wild-Coffee

Wild-coffee is a member of the madder family (Rubiaceae), this is the same family to which coffee, ixoras, and gardenias belong. It is a common understory shrub in tropical to warm-temperate forests in northern and peninsular Florida from Duval County south to the Florida Keys. Wild-coffee is extremely popular as a landscape plant due to its beautiful, glossy, dark green leaves with deeply impressed veins. In addition, it is easily grown, adapts well to a variety of light and soil conditions, and it is extremely drought tolerant once established, especially if growing in the shade or in a partly shaded site. The tiny creamy-white flowers are insignificant but they are lightly scented and attract a diverse array of wildlife including native bees and both large and small butterflies. The flowers are followed by conspicuous red berries that are eaten by birds and mammals. From time to time, individuals with leaves variegated with white markings are encountered, either in the wild or among cultivated plants; however, thus far, such variegated-leaved clones have not been established in general cultivation.

Image and text © 2012 Rufino Osorio

Polygala nana – Dwarf Bachelor's Button

Image © 2012 Rufino Osorio

Gaillardia pulchella – Firewheel

Gaillardia pulchella has several common names, including "indian blanket" and "firewheel."

Gaillardia pulchella is an easily grown annual commonly cultivated for its showy flowers. The flowers are exceptionally attractive to native bees as well as to a wide variety of both large and small butterflies. Although commonly regarded as native to Florida, the genus is centered in the great plains of the United States. Also, Florida plants exhibit wide variation in the size, form, and color of the ray florets (the so-called petals of a daisy), and this bolsters the possibility that perhaps some populations in Florida are derived from plants that escaped cultivation. This particularly showy form was photographed on a deeply overcast day at the Native Choice Nursery in Boynton Beach on Saturday, May 26, 2012.

Image and text © 2012 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

Frenchman's Forest

In January of this year, I visited Frenchman's Forest, a natural area in northern Palm Beach County. At that time, we had severe drought conditions and many of the plants were stressed. One indication of that stress was that I had never been to a natural area in which so many different kinds of plants had insect or disease damage.

Most gardeners view insect herbivores and diseases with dismay; however, for the most part, native plants take them in stride and are usually able to resist them when better conditions return. The most serious problems usually lie with introduced, non-native insects and diseases that native (and garden) plants have not had a co-evolutionary history with. Thus, in a natural area like Frenchman's Creek, native insect herbivores and plant pathogens can be viewed as yet another group of organisms that keep things in balance and add to the biodiversity of the natural area.

A single leaf of Chromolaena odorata (jack-in-the-bush) with evidence of three different organisms sustaining themselves on the plant: (1) powdery mildew as seen in the fuzzy white area in the upper left portion of the leaf; (2) leaf miner producing the large milky white area in the upper half of the leaf; and (3) an unidentified organism that is causing the speckling of tiny dots.

Crocanthemum corymbosum (synonym: Helianthemum corymbosum) (pine barren frostweed) is adapted to dry sandy sites and was unaffected by the drought. However, many of the colonies appeared to lack vigor due to overly shady conditions. Long considered congeneric with the Old World Helianthemum, there is molecular genetic evidence that the New World frostweeds should be placed in their own genus (Crocanthemum). See, e.g., Guzmán & Vargas 2009.

Hamelia patens (fire bush) was abundant in Frenchman's Forest and this was the first time that I had seen it as a native plant growing wild in Palm Beach County.

Hamelia patens (fire bush) bears abundant berries that are eaten by various birds and mammals.

Iresine diffusa (blood leaf) has tiny 1-seeded fruits that bear fluffy hairs and are dispersed by the wind. It is a common plant of disturbed, open, sunny and semi-shaded sites in Palm Beach County.

Physalis pubescens arenicola (husk-tomato) was beginning to sprout new shoots from deep, subterranean rhizomes.

Psychotria nervosa (wild-coffee) was abundant at Frenchman's Forest. This carefully rolled up leaf is the handiwork of a moth caterpillar that feeds on wild-coffee.

Psychotria sulzneri (velvet-leaf wild-coffee) tended to grow in more shady or moist areas than Psychotria nervosa. Both plants are outstanding landscape plants whose flowers provide pollen for native bees and nectar for a wide variety of both large and small butterflies. Their red berries are dispersed by birds and provide additional value to wildlife.

Pteridium aquilinum (bracken) grew to enormous heights in one location and covered many square yards of ground.

Richardia grandiflora (large-flowered Mexican-clover) seems to occur in every open, sunny, terrestrial habitat in Palm Beach County. It readily takes over lawns and is now a much-hated lawn weed that is resistant to most broad-leaf herbicides.

Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis was common at Frenchman's Forest. This plant had foliage with the unmistakable signs of being infected with a plant virus.

Solidago fistulosa (pine barren golderod) was greatly stressed by the drought and was afflicted with powdery mildew as well as by goldenrod blister galls. The latter are caused by the larvae of a tiny midge with the aid of a mutualistic fungus. The larvae never occur without the fungus and there is a possibility that they feed solely on the fungus and never directly eat the leaves (see Stireman et al. 2008).

Stipulicida setacea is a tiny plant that forms rosettes an inch or two wide. It will later bear tiny white or pinkish flowers, each not much bigger than a pinhead.

Vitis rotundifolia (muscadine grape) is sometimes host to a rust (a type of fungus) that produces yellowish to brownish lesions on the leaves.

Images and text © 2012 Rufino Osorio

Croton linearis – Pineland Croton

Croton linearis growing at Juno Dunes Natural Area in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Croton linearis is a small, evergreen shrub about 1.5–3 feet tall that is commonly known as pineland croton or granny bush. It is native to the Bahamas, Florida, Cuba, and Jamaica. In Florida, it is confined to the southeastern and extreme southern portions of the peninsula and has been recorded from St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties, as well as the Florida Keys of both Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. In these counties, Croton linearis typically occurs in well-drained, dry, sandy soil near the coast or in rocky pinelands.

The wildlife value of Croton linearis is moderately high since its oily seeds are eagerly sought out by seed-eating birds and mammals; however, plants are either male or female and both sexes must be present for the seeds to form. Additional wildlife value is provided by the foliage, which is used as the caterpillar food plant of the critically endangered Florida leafwing butterfly, Anaea troglodyta floridalis.

Image and text © 2012 Rufino Osorio

Polygala nana – Dwarf Bachelor's Button

Polygala nana growing in an area of moist sugar sand at the Juno Dunes Natural Area in Palm Beach County, Florida.

I always think that extremely tiny plants like this one with nearly stalkless flowerheads are the endangered Polygala smallii. However, every time I measure the seeds, the plants turn out to be Polygala nana. In Polygala smallii, the seeds are 1.9–2.3 mm long, whereas in Polygala nana, they are up to 1.6 mm long.

Image and text © 2012 Rufino Osorio

Opuntia humifusa – Common Prickly-Pear

Opuntia humifusa, the most common prickly-pear in Florida as well as in eastern North America.

These prickly-pear fruits added an unexpected bit of color on a January hike at the Juno Dunes Natural Area in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Image and text © 2012 Rufino Osorio

Mentzelia floridana – Poorman's Patch

Mentzelia floridana photographed at the Juno Dunes Natural Area in Palm Beach County.

Poorman's patch, Mentzelia floridana, is a weakly erect, often climbing or sprawling, perennial typically found in hammocks, shell middens, and dunes. It bears striking, bright yellow flowers about 1.5 inches wide throughout the year. The plant is covered with tiny hooked hairs, by which means the leaves and fruits stick to feathers, fur, and human clothing. I have never seen it cultivated although it is not clear why not since it has small but showy flowers and its preference for dry or rocky soil would indicate that it is drought tolerant. Mentzelia floridana has a very limited natural range and is known only from the Bahamas and Florida. However, within Florida, it is a common plant found throughout the coastal areas of the peninsula. In southern Florida, it can also be found well inland.

Image and text © 2012 Rufino Osorio