Florida Native Plant Society Blog

  Photo: Chuck’s “selfie” on a tripod 1986, Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park, Giant Bromeliad, Tillandsia utriculata Chuck McCartney passed away on Sunday, October 11. He was a fourth-generation South Floridian and life-long orchid enthusiast. Through his longtime membership in the Florida Native Plant Society in the Dade and Broward chapters, he also become interested in Florida’s wildflowers. Chuck earned a bachelor’s degree in English education from Florida State University. However, except for a short stint as a high school English teacher in Miami, he was a journalist and editor, working for newspapers in his native Homestead as well as in Hollywood, Florida, where he lived. He retired in 2009 after nearly 19 years as a copy editor with The Miami Herald’s Broward Edition serving the Fort Lauderdale area. In the mid-1980s, he worked as an editor for the American Orchid Society and wrote numerous articles on orchids for AOS publications as well as for California’s Orchid ...

Governor Ron DeSantis Executive Office of the Governor 400 South Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399 SUBJECT: Please Consider a No-Build Option for Proposed M-CORES Toll Roads Dear Governor DeSantis: The task forces assigned to assist FDOT in planning for the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES) toll roads project have nearly completed their reports. Despite their diligence and attention to detail over the past year, none of the three task forces has been able to confirm a need for the roads despite evaluation of need being part of their charge as stated in Section 338.2278 (3) (c) 4, F.S.   On behalf of the 4,300 members of the Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS), we submit that the absence of any finding of need reflects, quite simply, an actual absence of need and recommend that you embrace a no-build option to the Florida legislature during the upcoming session. Each of the three task forces expressed a preference for improving or expanding ...

Florida Torreya (Torreya taxifolia) is an endangered tree with most of its limited range occurring in the Florida panhandle. The species has been in decline for decades and all observed trees are infected with a canker disease now attributed to a novel Fusarium species, possibly introduced from Asia by the horticultural or shipping industry (Smith et al. 2011). Through our TorreyaKeepers project, the Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) is working with private landowners to locate and document the condition of remaining wild trees. We are also partnering with Atlanta Botanical Garden to collect stem cuttings for offsite safeguarding to conserve the genetic diversity remaining for this species. Please help us raise $1,200 to bridge the gap between now and when we receive our next grant award. You can donate here . Progress 2020-10-06 Thank you everyone! We've reached 42% of our $1,200 goal in one day! We have only $700 left to fund this program's expenses through the end of th...