Educational Story The Shortleaf or Scrub Blazing Star, Liatris tenuifolia, is a perennial flowering plant in the Aster family that produces a striking blaze of flowers. The inflorescence is a spike of rayless rose/ purple-colored flowers that typically bloom from the top, down. It reaches a height of 3-4 ft, and grows in well-drained soils in the Southeastern United States, typical of scrub and flatwoods communities….
Category: Depression Marsh
Bog Button (Lachnocaulon anceps)
Educational Story Bog Button, Lauchnocaulon anceps, is a native Florida perennial herb in the pipewort family. The inflorescence is a button-shaped cluster of densely packed white flowers at the top of a hairy stalk. The 1-2 inch leaves grow in clusters at the base of flowering stalks that can grow up to 16 inches tall. Five species of Bog Button occur in…
Chalky Bluestem (Andropogon virginicus var. glaucus)
Educational Story The Chalky Bluestem, Andropogon virginicus, is a fast growing grass that grows in scrubby flatwoods and is a primary succession plant that establishes itself after disturbance events such as tropical storms and wildfires. The stems of this grass are covered with a chalky wax coating that can be easily rubbed off, and gives…
Dahoon Holly (Ilex cassine)
Educational Story The Dahoon holly, Ilex cassine, is a medium to small evergreen tree that can be found growing in Mesic Flatwoods and wet locations like swamps. Like most hollies, it is dioecious, producing individual plants that are either male or female. Leaves are smooth and shiny, and make an ideal hedge with attractive white flowers….
Feay’s Palafox (Palafoxia feayi)
Educational Story The Feay’s Palafox, Palafoxia feayi, is a native, herbaceous perennial plant that occurs in scrub and sandhill habitats in Florida. This species produces strong, tall stalks with small oval leaves. It is in the aster family, but its flowers are unusual, consisting of a open, round head of tubular disc flowers with no…
Florida Paintbrush (Carphephorus corymbosus)
Educational Story Florida Paintbrush, Carphephorus corymbosus, is a perennial herb that has showy violet-colored flowers that resemble an artists paintbrush. It is in the Asteraceae or aster family, which includes the daisies and sunflowers. The striking flowers bloom in fall and consist of a compact head of small, bright purplish, tubular florets, each with a star…
Florida Tickseed (Coreopsis leavenworthii)
Educational Story The Florida Tickseed, Coreopsis leavenworthii, is in the genus that includes the Florida state wildflower. Bright yellow flowers bloom year round in sun or shade, often tolerating poor soils. It’s a fast growing perennial that re-seeds itself, making it easy to grow and enjoy. Lady Bird Johnson, first lady to the 36th President…
Fourpetal St. John’s Wort (Hypericum tetrapetalum)
Educational Story The Fourpetal St. John’s Wort, Hypericum tetrapetalum, is a small woody shrub with few branches that can be found growing in pine flatwoods throughout Florida. It occurs only in Florida and limited areas of Georgia. This species can be identified by its brilliant yellow flowers, with four petals and heart shaped leaf bases…
Goldenrod (Solidago stricta)
Educational Story Slender Goldenrod, Solidago stricta, is one of many species of goldenrod that can be found throughout Florida growing in sandy, well-drained soils. Goldenrod species are perennial herbs in the aster family and have small, bright yellow flowers borne on long flower stalks called a panicle. Slender Goldenrod has small erect leaves that press…
Hooded Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia minor)
Educational Story The Hooded Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia minor, is a carnivorous plant that lives in wet areas like swamps and bogs in the southeastern coastal plain of North America, ranging from coastal North Carolina through south-central Florida. It has long upright tubular leaves with deep cavities that are perfectly evolved to trap unsuspecting insects using…
Lopsided Indiangrass (Sorghastrum secundum)
Educational Story Lopsided Indiangrass, Sorghastrum secundum, is a type of bunch grass native to the southeastern United States. It is commonly used in native landscapes and restoration projects. Flower and seed heads produce a showy, one-sided panicle that hangs to one side from a tall stalk when the grass is flowering; thus the name ‘lopsided’….
Pond Cypress (Taxodium ascendens)
Educational Story The Pond Cypress, Taxodium ascendens, is a tree that lives in swampy ground, but can adapt to drier lands. Its seeds need wet soil to germinate. This tree species can be found in depressional areas that hold water, slowly colonizing the middle of the depression and moving outwards. A cypress population in a round…
Rayless Sunflower (Helianthus radula)
Educational Story Rayless Sunflower, Helianthus radula, is a sunflower that produces a tight cluster of purple to brown, tighly packed disk flowers atop a long stalk. This sunflower lacks the showy, outer ray flowers of the inflorescence typical of other members of the Asteraceae, like daisies. It has large, rounded, hairy basal leaves growing close…
Sabal Palm (Sabal palmetto)
Educational Story The Sabal Palm, Sabal palmetto, is the official state tree of Florida and South Carolina. It grows in sandy, well drained soil in part shade. Its singular trunk can reach 30 feet in height. Fan-shaped leaves, palm fronds, grow from the top of the tree from a single apical meristem, which is the…
Shortleaf Rosegentian (Sabatia brevifolia)
Educational Story The Shortleaf Rosegentian, Sabatia brevifolia, has opposite leaves and is a white, 5-petaled flower with a yellow center displaying an intricate, twisted pistil. Bees and butterflies can be found visiting the plant during the flowering season. It is one of the more showy of the white Florida native wild flowers, and it can…
Slender Flattop Goldenrod (Euthamia caroliniana)
Educational Story The Slender Flattop Goldenrod, Euthamia caroliniana, is a fall-flowering herbaceous perennial plant that produces flowers similar to flowers of the typical goldenrod genus, Solidago. The small yellow flowers have a more elegant and ethereal form than a typical goldenrod, but are equally attractive to bees and other pollinators. It flowers from July into October and…
Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides)
Educational Story Spanish Moss, Tillandsia usneoides, is most often seen hanging gracefully from Live Oak branches. Its subtle blue-green strands swaying in the breeze are characteristic of many distinctive southern landscapes. Not requiring soil, it collects its nutrients from the air and rain water. The plant forms one or more slender stems that bear thin, alternate, curved…
Waterlily (Nymphaea odorata)
Educational Story The Waterlily, Nymphaea odorata, is a native plant found in Florida freshwater environments, such as ponds, lakes, and rivers. Its leaves are large, rounded pads that float flat on the water’s surface, with a triangular slit on one side where the leaf attaches to the underwater stem or petiole that emerges from a…
Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera)
Educational Story The Wax Myrtle, Myrica cerifera, is a small shrub-like tree that has smooth, light grey twisted trunks with thin bark. It occurs throughout the southeastern coastal plain and the Caribbean. It has short, narrow, leathery leaves with serrated edges that contain aromatic compounds. When the leaves are broken or bruised, they give off…
Wiregrass (Aristida stricta)
Educational Story Wiregrass, Aristida stricta, is an extremely important understory groundcover in flatwoods and sandhill ecosystems throughout the southeastern coastal plain. It is also sometimes referred to as Pineland threeawn. This narrow leafed wiry grass grows in clumps and can reach heights of up to 2 feet. Flowering stalks may be up to 3 feet, Wiregrass…
Zoom into the Florida Paintbrush Virtually as a Bee
The forest includes many rare plant and animal species found within the southeastern United States.