Wednesday's Wildflower: Tennessee Leafcup

TENNESSEE LEAFCUP, Polymnia laevigata Beadle
Aster Family (Asteraceae)
Submitted by Roger Hammer

Polymnia laevigata,  photo by Roger Hammer

The lower leaves of this species reach 6"–12" long and 4"–6" wide and are deeply and raggedly cut with pointed lobes, reducing in size up the stem with few or no lobes. The 3'–6' stems are glabrous (smooth). The flower heads are about ½" wide, subtended by a whorl of leafy bracts, and with 3-toothed ray florets and male disk florets.

It flowers in June and July in damp, shaded woodlands of Jackson County in the Florida panhandle. The best place to see it is to hike the trails in Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna, Florida (Jackson County).

Polymnia relates to the mythological Greek muse Polymnia, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne and the inspirational goddess of sacred music and dance. The name laevigata means “smooth” for the glabrous stems. The common name relates to where the type specimen was collected in 1897 (Franklin County, Tennessee) by botanist Chauncery Delos Beadle (1866–1950). In Florida, it is a state-listed endangered species due to its limited range.

Roger is a member of the FNPS Dade Chapter and is currently working on a new Falcon Guide titled Complete Guide to Florida Wildflowers, due to be released in Spring 2018. His other wildflower guides include Florida Keys Wildflowers (2004), Everglades Wildflowers (2nd edition, 2014), and Central Florida Wildflowers (2016).

USF Plant Atlas: Polymnia laevigata
_____________________________________________________________
Editor's note: This week's wildflower has a special meaning in my life right now, as I am moving from Florida to Chattanooga, Tennessee at the end of this month. I am sorry to say that I will no longer be editor of the FNPS Blog, but until a new editor is appointed, I will continue post when I have the time between packing boxes and moving furniture, so please forgive me if Wednesday's Wildflower doesn't post every week. I will leave it up to the new social media director to decide what and when to post. But, I do plan to contribute as a guest blogger after I am settled in my new home, as Florida native plants and the Florida Native Plant Society is forever in my heart and my mind... Donna 

Comments

Monabona said…
Thanks—at last I can name the strange "weed" that appears in my lawn each summer!
September 2, 2017 at 10:05 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday's Wildflower:Spanish Needle

Image
Spanish Needle, Bidens Alba Submitted by Donna Bollenbach, Suncoast Chapter Biden's alba , all photos by Donna Bollenbach Nothing attracts more butterflies and bees than a simple white flower called Bidens alba . Also called Romerillo, Beggar’s Tick, Spanish Needle or Monkey’s Lice, this Florida native wildflower is the third most reliable source of nectar for pollinators in our state. There would be many starving bees and butterflies if not for the Bidens family of flowers. More so, Bidens alba and its sister plant, Bidens pilosa , are both edible and have medicinal value. Yet, many gardeners have a love/hate relationship the plant, and some even consider it a pesky weed. Why?
Read more

Australian Pine: One of Florida's Least Wanted

Image
 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
Read more

Tropical Milkweed is Harmful to Monarchs & Florida Ecosystems

Image
By Lilly Anderson-Messec The red and yellow blooms of tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica , are ubiquitous in Florida butterfly gardens. This non-native milkweed has exploded in popularity as demand for milkweed grows to support declining monarch butterfly populations. This tropical species is native to Mexico and very easy to propagate, so growers are able to quickly produce plant material to meet the milkweed demand. It’s also very showy, blooming prolifically all season and regrowing quickly after being decimated by hungry caterpillars.  Unfortunately, tropical milkweed has been an increasingly invasive species in Central and South Florida for many years, and has begun spreading in North Florida as well. It’s fast growth and prolific re-seeding have resulted in large monocultures of tropical milkweed in natural areas. This unchecked growth replaces native plants and disrupts the native ecosystems that both wildlife and humans rely on. The invasive quality of this plant is is j
Read more