The rare plant count at Sulphur Run Swamp
All photos, video, and article by Mark Kateli, Cuplet Fern Chapter President This event occurred in September 2019 in Sulphur Run Swamp, a tributary of the St. Johns River in the Seminole State Forest. An accompanying video of this memorable experience can be found here: https://youtu.be/9P3nVCJoNYQ Hammockherb or Gulf Hammock Indian Plantain, Hasteola robertiorum , is a facultative wetland plant that prefers to grow in dappled sun within swamp forest. To date, it is only found in two counties in Florida: Lake and Levy, and is listed as state-endangered [1] . The closely related false Indian plantain, Hasteola suaveolens , does not occur in Florida but has a wider distribution across several northern states where it also listed as endangered due to habitat loss and invasive plant competition [2] . There are a number of differences and similarities between species. Both Hasteola species flower in late summer to early fall but differ in the number of disc flowers present per inflo...