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Australian Pine: One of Florida's Least Wanted

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 Austrailian Pine fruits Australian pines seem to be everywhere in the coastal regions in the bottom half of Florida. Their name is deceiving because, while they are native to Australia, they aren't pines or even conifers. They are flowering trees with separate male and female flowers, and what look like needles are really green twiglets with close-set circles of tiny leaves that drop at the first sign of a drought. In the photo to the right, the light-colored lines are where leaves where once attached. Most of the photosynthesis takes place in the twiglets. There are three species of Australian pine ( Casuarina spp ) that have been imported into Florida for various purposes. They were widely planted to soak up the "swamps" in Florida, stabilize canals, and hold beaches. Unfortunately for Florida's ecosystems, the "pines" accomplished all this and more--like seeding prolifically, growing five feet or more per year, producing dense shade, and emitting...
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Paradise Tree: Beautiful and Useful

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"The native Paradise tree is more useful than Google, and easy to grow." And how could any blogger resist leading off with this intriguing quote from the Key West Garden Club? I am a Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist, but I only know so much; so I always check out  statistics from experts before posting information about plants. I have a beautiful Paradise tree in my yard, it came from the raffle table at my chapter's program night about six years ago.   Paradise tree                Simarouba glauca For the first six years the little tree had a perfect, closed, cone shape; but just this summer I was astounded one morning to walk out and notice that my tree had changed. The canopy had begun to open up, there were open spaces between the layers of branches. It seemed to happen overnight. Proving again that a garden is constantly in motion, which is one of the fascinating things about o...
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Spiderwort: Spring Beauty and Delightful Edible

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A lot of Florida is decked out with the purples and yellows of spring. The landscape looks like an impressionistic painting with Lyre leaf sage (Salvia lyrata), cat’s ear (Hypochoeris radicata), false dandelion (Pyrrhopappus carolinianus), wild lettuce (Lactuca graminifolia), phlox (Phlox spp.), and spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) dotting our backyards and fields and popping up along roadsides. One of my favorite spring plants, T. ohiensis in the Commelinaceae family, is not only beautiful but also edible! Known also by the names bluejacket and dayflower, T. ohiensis particularly likes moist meadows and the edges woodlands. You’ll find it in dry areas, too, but greatly diminished in stature. This monocot grows in clusters and can reach a height of 30 inches. The lanceolate leaves are smooth with a deep ridge down the center. The rounded stem supports drooping clusters of flowers that have three blue petals and yellow stamens. The flowers are yummy to eat as you walk along on h...
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