Florida Native Plant Society Blog

McFarlin’s Lupine/Scrub Lupine,  Lupinus westianus var. aridorum / Lupinus aridorium Submitted by Tom Palmer, Hernando Chapter Scrub Lupine, photo by Tom Palmer This pink-flowered endemic wildflower blooms in spring in a decreasing number of locations on the Winter Haven and Mt. Dora ridges in Polk and  Orange counties.  It is a federally listed endangered species, and unlike many scrub species, it is  unknown within the Lake Wales Ridge.  Although this plant was first proposed to be considered a separate species by James Brigham McFarlin in the 1930s, it was not formally described until 1982 by John Beckner. It was later reclassified as a variety of Lupinus westianus by Duane Isley, but a current genetic evaluation of Florida lupines reportedly may result in changes in the nomenclature that may restore it to full species status. Scrub lupines are easily identified by pink blossoms as well as the absence of stipules, which will L. diffusus...

By Carmel van Hoek I haven’t heard any mention of pygmy pipes in quite a while, and the last collections, according to the USF Plant Atlas , were made in 2012 in Pasco and St. Johns Counties. I wonder if these little endemic, state endangered obscurities are taking another sabbatical as they have sometimes done since the late 1800’s when they were first discovered. Photograph by Betty Wargo. Courtesy of The Atlas of Florida Plants Photograph by Rita Lassiter . Courtesy of  The Atlas of Florida Plants In December of 1884, in east Florida near St. Augustine, Mary C. Reynolds found several small plants that obviously lacked chlorophyll as they displayed no hint of green. They looked somewhat like Indian Pipes, Monotropa uniflora, except that these plants were smaller, some barely visible above the leaf litter. And they were suffused with colors of pink and pale lavender instead of being ghostly white. Instead of a single flower atop the stem as in Indian Pipes, these ...

By Laurie Sheldon The Man, the Myth, the Legend Knowledgeable, respected, boyish and charming, he sported a tropical short-sleeved shirt, pulled his long hair into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and delivered the opening presentation on day two of the 33rd Annual F.N.P.S. Conference, held in Jacksonville this past May. His name is Roger Hammer, and he's got swagger. He began by admitting to being pleasantly surprised with his second visit to the area; the conditions under which he'd previously been in our neck of the woods were undeniably less favorable. Then twenty-something, he'd been out surfing in his hometown of Cocoa Beach when his mother flagged him down. "You have a letter from the President," she exclaimed, obviously very excited to have her son tear it open. It was a draft card, and off to Jax he went. He moved to Homestead after serving and became a naturalist with the Miami-Dade Parks Department, where, among other things, he encouraged a gener...