Florida Native Plant Society Blog

Clustered Sedge, Carex glaucescens Fruiting Clustered Sedge, Carex glaucescens . Black Creek Ravines, Clay County. Photo CC BY-NC ericpo1 Clustered Sedge ( Carex glaucesens ) is another sedge, like the previously profiled False Hop Sedge , that defies the stereotypes that sedges are all small, green, boring, and indistinguishable. Also known as Southern Waxy Sedge, is an wet understory sedge of the Southeastern US but doesn't go far south into Central Florida 1 . It's restricted to the panhandle, Northeast Florida, and Lake County. Clustered Sedge, Carex glaucescens . Photo © Shirley Denton C. glaucescens was described in 1824 by botanist Stephen Elliot 2 .  It is vouchered for 26 out of the 67 counties in Florida. Clustered Sedge, Carex glaucescens Photo © Shirley Denton Clustered Sedge is within the Glaucescentes section of the Carex genus 3 , which mean that it is closely related to other chunky-fruited Florida sedges: Cypress S

Skyblue Lupine's flowers are fading in Central Florida and the fuzzy seed pods are becoming prominent yet this amazing pollinator plant is in peak bloom in North Florida. Just like the White Wild Indigo profiled last week, Skyblue Lupine is a legume, meaning it associates with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and has a certain "beany" flower shape. Skyblue Lupine, Lupinus diffusus flowering and fruiting in Split Oak Forest March 17th, 2019. Photo © Tayler Figueroa . Skyblue lupine has a long, sensitive taproot and likes dry soils, so is found in sandhills , scrubs , openings in xeric hammocks , and dry flatwoods . It is very difficult to transplant and grow from seed so it is not available from nurseries for your home landscape or for restoration. It's leaves are eaten by the Frosted Elfin ( Callophyris irus ) butterfly, which is Listed Endangered in Florida 1 . It's also eaten by Grey Hairstreak ( Strymon melinis ) larvae, Genista Broom Moth ( Uresiphita

False Hop Sedge ( Carex lupuliformis ) is now blooming. This species is often found in floodplain forests and wetlands of Florida throughout the Eastern US all the way to Eastern Canada 1,2 . Members of the Carex genus (sometimes called Carices) have interesting flowers that are often overlooked. False Hop Sedge has both male and female inflorescences, as visible in the following photo. Flowering False Hop Sedge, Carex lupuliformis . Photo by A. Murray © University of Florida C. lupuliformis was described in 1848 by physician-botanist Henry Sartwell 3 and was published in 1850 by botanist and anti-slavery activist Chester Dewey 4 .  It is vouchered for 46 out of the 67 counties in Florida. Fruiting False Hop Sedge, Carex lupuliformis . Photo CC BY-NC-SA Mary Keim . Along the Econlockhatchee River at the Econlockhatchee Sandhills Conservation Area . April 2013. It has been documented in iNaturalist along Arbuckle Creek, the Myakka River, the Econlockhatchee River

If you're out in the dry pinelands and sandhills of North Florida right now you might be blessed with seeing the blooms of the White Wild Indigo, Baptisia alba . White Wild Indigo at San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park , Alachua County, March, 2019. Photo © Susan Carr White Wild indigo is a handsome member of the Legume family. Standing at over 3 feet tall, this spring bloomer waves above the surrounding vegetation and is very attractive to pollinators. White Wild Indigo at San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park , Alachua County, March, 2019. Photo © Susan Carr There are nine species of Wild Indigos or Baptisia s in Florida. Wild White Indigo ( B. alba ) is in the B. alba - B. tinctoria Clade of the Genus Baptisias . This means that it is more closely related to Apalachicola Wild Indigo, Baptisia megacarpa , than any of the other seven species of Wild Ingidos in Florida 1 . White Wild Indigo at San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park , Alachua

Southern Umbrella-Sedge ( Fuirena scirpoidea ) is now blooming. This species is often found on marsh and pond edges throughout Florida. Flowering. Photo © Shirley Denton. F. scirpoidea was described in 1803 by botanist Andre Michaux 1 . It is vouchered for most counties in Florida and occurs throughout the southeast United States. Flowering in East Osceola County March 2019. Photo © Loret Thatcher The genus Fuirena was first described in 1773 by Christen Friis Rottbøll, a Danish botanist 2 . Fuirena is within the tribe Fuireneae which is in the Cyperoideae subfamily and finally within the Cyperaceae family. This means it's more closely related to the Saltmarsh Bulrush ( Bolboschoenus robustus ) than any other sedge in Florida 3 . flowering in Pine Lily Preserve, Orange County, June 2015. Photo CC-BY-2.0 Mary Keim flowering with Wingless Meadow Katydid ( Odontoxiphidium apterum ) Hal Scott Preserve and Regional Preserve, Orange Co., FL, April 2014. Photo CC-BY-2.0

You may be noticing a small white flower popping up in your lawn and/or on roadsides, that may be Oakleaf Fleabane, a common native wildflower in Floria and throughout the Southeastern US. Check out our growing guide here . Photo © Mark Hutchinson This flower appears to be a favorite of the small native pollinators: sweat bees, small skippers, and nearly invisible flies. Aripeka Sandhills Preserve, Pasco County, December 2018. Photo CC-BY Nate Martineau . E. quercifolius is in Section Quercifolium of the Genus Erigeron, which means that it is more closely related to Erigeron species in the Western US and Central America like the Rio Grande Erigeron ( Erigeron tenellus ) and Darrel's Fleabane ( Erigeron darrelianus ) in Bermuda than it is to the other native species of Erigeron in Florida ( E. annuus , E. pulchellus , E. strigosus , E. tenuis , and E. vernus ) 1,2 . Jonathathan Dickinson State Park, Martin County. March 2011. Photo CC-BY-2.0 Bob Peterson . Oakle

Illicium floridanum is Florida Anise, which is documented in the FL Panhandle and further west along the Gulf Coast.  Recently, the lovely flowering Florida Anise was found on private lands in Putnam county near the Rice Creek Conservation Area ( map ).  Acting on a tip from FNPS President Susan Carr, Mark Whitten (Botanist with the UF Herbarium and FNPS member, Paynes Prairie Chapter ) collected a specimen to document this significant disjunct population!     This just goes to show that there is a lot to learn about the distribution of our native plants!  Thanks Mark for documenting this range extension, and thanks to private landowners who love and care for their native plant habitats.  Maybe there are more Panhandle plants out there to find in North Central Florida!     Florida Anise on the FNPS plant guide and in the USF Plant Atlas   by Valerie Anderson