Field trip to Torreya State Park with Gil Nelson: Part 1
On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, 25 members from three different chapters of the Florida Native Plant Society joined up with Florida plant guru Gil Nelson at Torreya State Park. The park, located west of Tallahassee, borders the Apalachicola River. You may have noticed that several books that we recommend over there on the right hand column are by Gil. What a great way to spend a beautiful north Florida November day--out in the woods with folks who are interested in not only plants, but the bugs, snakes and the whole ecosystem. After posing for the initial photo (Gil is on the left of this group photo.), we were off into the woods. (Note: For this post, I have included links to webpages with more information on the specimen being discussed.) Here Gil shows folks how to look for hairy undersides of leaves to help identify this tree that many people confuse with oaks, but instead it's a gum bully ( Sideroxylon lanuginosum ). It also has thorns a...