The Rhexia

Paynes Prairie Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society

Naming Natives

The speaker at our first fall meeting will be Dr. Patti Anderson, from the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry (FDACS/DPI). Florida Native Plant Society Mission: Promote the preservation, conservation and restoration of the In her talk “Using Dichotomous Keys or What Plant is That?” Dr. native plants and native plant Anderson will share information about using keys to identify plants. communities of Florida. We’ve all been in the situation of seeing an unknown plant or a plant we know, but whose name we can’t recall. A dichotomous key is In This Issue… one tool for finding the name of a mystery plant, but not always the Speaker This Month 1 easiest to use. We’ll look at some examples of using a key and touch Announcements 2 on a variety of other tools, from checklists of natural areas to Wildflower Symposium 2-3 internet searches and phone apps. There is no secret formula, but if Chapter Contact List 3 you are tenacious and willing to pull out a few hairs, plant names Yard Visit Reports 6-8 can be found! Our Sponsors 8 Don’t miss this chance to learn from an expert! See you at 7 pm Fall Native Plant Sale 9 th Plant ID for May Meeting 10 Thursday, Sep. 11 , at our new meeting place, the Matheson Field Trip Report 11 Museum, 513 E. University Avenue in Gainesville. Calendar of Events 12 For more about Dr. Anderson, see page 4. Doug Tallemy at Wildflower Symposium REALLY BIG IMPORTANT Bok Tower, September 19-20th The Florida Wildflower Foundation is partnering with ANNOUNCEMENT Bok Tower Gardens for the 2014 Florida Wildflower Symposium. The event includes field trips, workshops *NEW MEETING PLACE * and presentations by experts on wildflowers, native plants, butterflies and b ees. A new landscaping tract will also be offered. MATHESON MUSEUM Doug Tallemy, author of Bringing Nature Home, will be the keynote speaker. For more information visit the Foundation’s website 513 E. University Ave, Gainesville, FL www.flawildflowers.org Our new meeting location will now be downtown, on University Avenue, east of the Award Winning Chapter Members main library. This one- story brick building Several awards were given to Paynes Prairie members houses the Alachua County Historic Trust and at the FNPS state conference in May. We will be an excellent venue for our programs. congratulate all of them and send a big thank you for There are strong native plant ties at this site, their continued support and use of native plants in both in the building’s landscape and at the their projects. The winners are: surrounding Sweetwater Park. Michael Bubb-volunteer FNPS partner who reviews There is safe and improved parking beside the state park land management plans building and plenty of extra parking across the Peter Nesmith-from Water and Air Research street at the Kirby Smith Building (in front and Linda Demetropoulos-from the City of Gainesville on the grass near building). For information Nature Operations on the new site and its list of upcoming historic displays visit: 2014 Nominating Committee www.mathesonmuseum.org. If you are good at arm twisting or sweet talking, this job is for you! Thanks to the United Church of Gainesville for use of their facility in the past. We hope Our annual elections take place at the November everyone will join us at the new location for meeting. We need 3 members to serve on the more fun and educational events this year. Nominating Committee. Please consider this short term job during October to help us find new officers and board members for 2015. Thanks. Contact Erick ([email protected]) or Claudia ([email protected])

Not Exactly Native Plants- but a worthy cause…

Elephant Appreciation Day at Two Tails Ranch, 18655 NE 81st St, Williston, FL on Saturday, September 20th, 11:00am - 5:00pm Come out for the fundraiser and tour the ranch. $10.00 per person. There are plants to look at, too.

Have you ever seen an elephant up close? If not, here's your chance! Take a guided tour where we will talk about the animals and answer questions. Photo above shows FNPS Paynes Prairie Chapter members planting the new native During the tour you will also get a chance to ride plant landscape bed at Prairie Creek Lodge and Forage Farms C. Larsen 2014 the elephants and feed them! PAYNES PRAIRIE CHAPTER CONTACT LIST for 2014 "If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark President with a mosquito." - Betty Reese. Erick Smith, [email protected] (only until Dec 2014) Vice President Claudia Larsen, [email protected] (only until Dec 2014) VOLUNTEERS and COMMITTED FNPS MEMBERS Secretary WE NEED YOUR HELP, PLEASE Ellen Thoms, [email protected] Treasurer Goldie Schwartz, [email protected] The Paynes Prairie Chapter can exist only if its members Chapter Representative contribute their time and talents. Sandi Saurers, [email protected] Director Our chapter has enjoyed fine programs and field trips in Connie Caldwell, [email protected] 2014 so far thanks to the coordination of the current Director Paynes Prairie officers and board members. We have Jennifer Staiger, [email protected] depended on some individuals for many years but rotation Director for our organizational group is inevitable. Chuck Peck, [email protected]

Director Robert Garren, [email protected] This is a healthy opportunity for the chapter to garner new Membership experiences and ideas from our other members. Goldie Schwartz,352-495-3983/[email protected] Field Trip Coordinator The BAD news is Erick Smith and Claudia Larsen have Robert Freese,386-972-4489/[email protected] decided not to continue as president and vice-president of Newsletter Editor Paynes Prairie Chapter FNPS for 2015. Barbara Smith, [email protected] (only until Dec 2014) Plant Rescue The GOOD news is that there are over 400 current J. Barichivich, 352-375-1972/[email protected] members who now have the opportunity to contribute to Plant ID our ongoing activities Paul Cohen, [email protected] Chapter Website Maintenance Karen Schneider, [email protected] Other GOOD news: Our Board of Directors remains stable with experienced members to guide the process of program planning. (This involves 5 planning meetings per year.) And, our Plant Sale Committee which helps organize our popular spring and fall plant sales remains stable and works fairly independently to continue our liaison with Morningside Nature Park staff.

So – Who will step up? Being an officer is really a fun and rewarding experience – and definitely worthwhile! Please contact Erick Smith or Claudia Larsen for details and 1408

- encouragement.

“You can shine no matter what you’re made of.” ---Bigweld in Robots, 2005

Sources: quotes: www.all-famous-quotes.com image of mosquito: modernpest.com Wildflower Symposium

at Bok Tower Gardens Don’t miss this chance to visit Bok Tower Gardens, learn more about wildflowers from the experts, & 20

- hear Doug Tallamy speak. Visit the FL Wildflower Foundation Website for more information: http://www.flawildflowers.org/events/2014- wildflower-symposium.html#sthash.0Dwzv2G9.dpuf

2014 Florida Sept 19 Lake Wales, FL (863)676 This Month’s Speaker …continued

Dr. Anderson has worked as a botanist for the DPI since 2006. Previously, she was an educator at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden and the Florida Museum of Natural History. She studied Botany at the City University of N.Y. and the University of FL, where she received her Ph.D. in 1998. She currently directs the Botany Section of the DPI where she identifies plants from all over Florida and carries out regulatory duties related to protecting Florida’s endangered and threatened native plant species and preventing the spread of species listed by the state as noxious weeds and invasive plants. You can find publications from the Division of Plant Industry at: http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Plant-Industry/Education-Outreach/Plant-Industry-Publications

Begin with January 2015 newsletter

Paynes Prairie chapter needs someone to take over the job of getting the word out to members each month concerning programs, field trips, special events, and more. We have published a monthly newsletter to accomplish this in the past. To continue this method of information dispersal, we need a newsletter editor. Barbara Smith, our editor last year, has agreed to stay through December. Contact Barbara Smith or Goldie Schwartz if you will help.

This is an opportunity for one of our members to step up and take over, beginning in January 2015. No newsletter is published over the summer.

You will have a chance to make the newsletter your own, do it your way, and have fun with it. Build your desktop publishing skills as you put together the chapter newsletter each month or figure out a new way to inform members.

In the past, the editor received information from other chapter members toward the end of each month, put it into newsletter form and sent it to longtime member and past editor, Goldie Schwartz , who cheerfully distributed it to all our members by mail and email. You may use MS Word for editing and Adobe Acrobat or similar program for pdfs. Or you can do it another way if you like!

Learn More about Native Plants …

Join us for program meetings of Paynes Prairie Chapter of FNPS, held at 7 PM on the second Thursday of each month September thru November and January thru May. Our new meeting place is the Matheson Museum, 513 E. University Avenue in Gainesville.

Not yet a member?

Membership Form is now at our website: www.paynesprairie.fnpschapters.org

Blooms of Rare Orchids and Other Flowers Show Prescribed Burns in Florida State Forests Improve Habitats for Wildlife (SEP 2013)

A grouping of rare orchids and other flowers blooms bright in Blackwater River State Forest this year. The brilliant colors are proof of a healthy forest aided by a robust prescribed burning program through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Florida Forest Service.

The blooms in Blackwater now include Pot-of-Gold and Catesby's lilies, White Top Pitcher Plants, and several species of rare orchids, including four Yellow Fringeless Orchids (Platanthera integra) blooming together, more than has ever been seen in the state forest since the program began. Conservation efforts will ensure these plants continue to bloom on state forest lands for many years to come.

Prescribed burning helps manage the health of forest lands, control pests and disease, and improve wildlife habitat and control hardwood encroachment in sensitive areas such as pitcher plant bogs or red-cockaded woodpecker clusters. It also contributes to the restoration and maintenance of biological communities and reduces the hazard of wildfire.

Since 1991, Florida has worked with state universities, researchers and other nonprofits to support about 10 endangered plant conservation projects each year. Other than prescribed burns on managed lands, projects include removing exotic and invasive species, inventory of state forest lands for rare plants, and collection and propagation of plants. The program has protected more than 100 species of endangered plants on more than 150 public lands.

The program's successes include:

Florida Golden Aster (Chrysopsis floridana) – This plant's populations have been greatly increased in its native range with help from botanical gardens that propagate and reintroduce this plant to its historical locations. The use of population surveys and mapping has contributed to its resurgence, and prescribed burns have helped the species reach and surpass its recovery goals. It is now in the process of being downgraded from an endangered plant species.

Key Tree-Cactus (Pilosocereus robinii) – The tall, multi-stemmed cactus was once found in many of the Florida Keys, especially Key West, but was decimated by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and now is found in only the most remote locations. A combination of state, federal and private efforts have successfully propagated this plant, mapped its locations and researched its genetic and life history to better understand its needs.

Florida Ziziphus (Ziziphus celata) – This drylands tree or shrub was once thought to be extinct, but statewide intense surveys discovered the plant again. These have been managed and maintained in a long-running effort conducted by the Archbold Biological Station in Lake Wales. Initial, unsuccessful propagation of this plant required cutting-edge genetic research, which identified individual plants that have the potential to cross-pollinate with other individuals. This has led to the production of thousands of new individuals, many of which have been reintroduced back into the wild and are managed with prescribed fire.

Harper's Beauty (Harperocallis flava) – This flower grows in Liberty and Bay counties, mostly within the Apalachicola National Forest in pitcher plant bogs and wet prairies. This plant requires prescribed burning to maintain an open, sunny habitat. Intense research into its life history has helped biologists better determine how this plant lives and its needs for management. Recent prescribed burning by the national forest has benefitted this species, aided by increased mapping efforts of all documented populations.

Godfrey's Butterwort (Pinguicula ionantha) – This rare, carnivorous plant grows in pitcher plant bogs in Florida Panhandle counties near the Apalachicola Delta. It needs prescribed fire to maintain an open, sunny wet prairie habitat and grows with other carnivorous plants that are abundant here. In Tate's Hell State Forest, an aggressive prescribed burning regimen has created a great, expanding population that explodes in numbers after each prescribed fire.

Credits: excerpts from DPI press release last September. For entire article, see website: http://www.freshfromflorida.com/News- Events/Press-Releases/2013-Press-Releases/Blooms-of-Rare-Orchids-Other-Flowers-Show-Prescribed-Burns-in-Florida-State-Forests- Improve-Habitats-for-Wildlife

TRANSFORMATION FROM “CONVENTIONAL” TO NATIVE DIVERSITY- Connie Caldwell

Robert Freese hosted our yard visit in April at his home near Sidney Lanier school. Robert has been creating his all-native 1/3 acre yard for 4 years. He showed us “before” pictures and what a transformation! The boxwood hedge along the front property line that we saw in the picture is now a bed filled with garberia (Garberia heterophyllia), coreopsis (C. lanceolata), Florida paintbrush (Carphephorus corymbosus), giant ironweed (Vernonia gigantea), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), a young longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and two baby paw paws (Asimina reticulata and A. obovata) in the sunny area.

Since Robert likes privacy, he’s created a shady secluded area in his front yard by adding to the two winged elms (Ulnus alata), already in place, some more trees and shrubs along the remainder of the former boxwood hedge row: flatwoods plum (Prunus umbellata), fringe tree (Chionanthus virginica), flame azaleas (Rhododendron austrinum), coonties (Zamia pumila), Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), Walter’s viburnum (V. obovatum), beauty berry (Callicarpa americana), oakleaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia), redbud (Cercis canadensis), needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), and Carolina buckthorn (Rhamnus caroliniana).

We cross over the small grassy area that Robert has retained to view the foundation plantings along the front of the house: Fakahatchee grass (Tripsacum dactyloides), Florida mock gamagrass (Tripsacum floridanum), wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa), bear grass (Nolina brittonii), false rosemary (Conradina canescens), lyreleaf sage (Salvia lyrata), more ironweed, coreopsis, and coontie, silkgrass (Pityopsis graminofolia), witchgrass (Dichanthelium sp.), and a baby tar flower (Befaria racemosa) that Robert is carefully nurturing. Two former large potocarpus, cut back, now form the trellis for Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens).

Along the side of the house Robert has planted dwarf fakahatchee grass, river oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), sweet shrub (Calycanthus floridus), and more yaupon holly. We proceed into the back yard and what a sight! Blooming spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) and coreopsis abound! On one side of the yard, against the neighbor’s fence, are sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboretum), gumbully (Sideroxylon lanuginosum), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), false indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaries), lopsided Indian grass (Sorghastrum secundum), black seeded needle grass (Piptochaetium avenaceum), elephant’s foot (Elephantopis elatus), columbine (Columbine aquilegia), spicebush (Lindera benzoin), more fakahatchee grass, calamint (Calamintha georgiana), sunshine mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), tarflower (Baferia racemosa), blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum), and wire grass (Aristida beyrichisnum). Robert had tried growing wire grass in the front bed, even tried burning it, but to no avail. Here it thrives!

Using tree limbs as edges, Robert has created a path through the large back yard and we proceed to walk along it, enjoying the beauty of woodland river oats (Chasmanthium laxum), ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana), roughleaf dogwood (Cornus asperifolia), azaleas (Rhododendron canescens), parsley haw (Cretaegus marshallii), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), Florida anise (Illicium floridanum), Sabal palmetto , pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens), yellow anise (Illicium parviflorum), magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), Florida privet (Forestiera segregata), Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), Florida yew (Taxus floridanum), torreya (T. taxifolia), yaupon holly, red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), slash pine (Pinus ellliottii), Carolina buckthorn (Rhamnus caroliniana), pipevine (Aristolochia tomentosa), atamasco lily (Zephyranthes atamasco), myrtle holly (Ilex myrtifolia), Ashe magnolia (Magnolia ashei), pignut hickory (Carya glabra), elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), fringe tree (Chionanthus virginica), paw paws (Asimina parviflora and A. triloba), and sassafrass (S. albidum). Robert demonstrates to us the flexibility of a young corkwood (Leitneria floridana) and -- oops! -- it breaks! Guess what - we all learn a lesson in repairing it with a splint and duct tape!

Filling in throughout the back yard (previously a forest of raintree and camphor), besides the blooming spiderwort and coreopsis, are lots of ironweed, horse mint (Monada punctata), and basket grass (Oplismenus hirtellus). Among this abundance we see shield fern (Thelypteris kunthii), coral bean (Erythrina herbacea), stoke’s aster (Stokesia laevis), hibiscus (H. coccinaeus), purple lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis), paspalum grass (P. setaceum), crinum lily (C. americanum), aster (A. sp.), goldenrod (Solidago fistulosa), Wild indigo (Baptisia alba), Florida dropseed grass (Sporobolus floridanus), giant bristlegrass (Setaria magna), and passion vine (Passiflora incarnata).

A block wall along the back of the house, eventually to become a seating area and patio, forms the backdrop for penstamon, baptisia, hibiscus, meadow beauty (Rhexia virginica), Squarestem (Melanthera nivea), joe pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum), and kidney leaf rosinweed (Silphium compositum). An outdoor shower against the house provides runoff which flows onto thriving cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis).

The remaining side of the back yard has buckeye (Aesculus pavia), styrax, hearts-a-bustin’ (Euonymus americanus), and more fakahatchee grass. A living fence of bromeliads and devil’s walking stick (Aralia spinosa) discourage entry into the back yard on the driveway side.

Look What’s Been Hiding Under All Those Invasives! May Yard Tour at Ellen Thoms’ and Brad Stith’s- by Claudia Larsen

Here we are at the home of Ellen Thoms and her wildlife We walk along a path toward the back of the property, biologist husband, Brad Stith, for our May native plant where Ellen has planted buckeye (Aesculus pavia), yard visit. They’ve owned the 1.1 acre property, heavily frostweed (Verbesina virginica), elderberry (Sambucus wooded with oaks and pines, for 14 years. Our first stop canadensis), yellow anise (Illicium parviflora), sweet is to visit the pool - that is, the former swimming pool shrub (Calycanthus floridus), native azaleas (Rhodendron that now is home to a pair of alligator snapping turtles canescens), and hollies (Ilex cassine). and various fish, including mosquito fish, gar, and bluegill. A ramp and screened path to a large nesting area, also We pass through a transition area that is currently being screened, provide Mrs. Turtle with a safe place to lay her cleared and see the welcome sight of a green dragon eggs. No eggs this year though. A bio-filtering system plant (Arisaema dracontium, (pictured), a great find that keeps the water clear and oxygenated. We gather had been concealed around the pool and watch as Brad feeds the fish, and are by invasives! A treated to the sight of a pair of copulating southern small pond (for the toads, and the sound of another toad singing his heart bronze frogs) is out. Unlucky-in-love Romeo? surrounded by lizard’s tail Another treat: near the pool, Brad has created a bog (Saururus cernus), where we see various pitcher plants, including white-top hibiscus (H. pitcher plant (Sarracenia leucophylla) and hooded pitcher coccinea), coontie plant (S. minor). Someone splits open one of the dead (Zamia pumila), and stems and shows us the carcasses of ingested insects that summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) and an almost-hidden fill it. It’s a closed system: food goes in; nothing goes out. trillium.

Ellen tells us that some 25 years ago the landscape Moving back toward the house, along the side are more around her home was a garden showplace, but that arrowood viburnums (they’re all blooming!), a fringe tree subsequent owners had let everything go. The result: (Chionanthus virginicus), Florida anise, roughleaf invasives, some of which were considered desirable 25 dogwood (Cornus asperifolia), blue-eyed grass years ago. Most of Ellen’s gardening time is spent (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), solomon seal (Polygonatum clearing invasive plants, including various clerodendrums, biflorum), ironweed (Vernonia gigantea), wild petunia sword fern, white-flowered wandering jew, air potato, (Ruellia caroliniensis), and coral bean (Erythrina coral ardisia, Chinese tallow tree, etc. A few natives , herbacea). Near the house and scattered throughout are such as oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), had ferns that planted themselves and look much like our been part of the original showplace. Wherever invasives southern shield fern, but no one is sure. We do see a have been cleared, Ellen has been planting natives. royal fern (Osmunda regalis) that we recognize for sure. It planted itself too. Beds around the pool include swamp hibiscus (Hibiscus coccinea), blue flag iris (Iris versicolor), a large magnolia Surrounding the circular driveway are coonties, red salvia (Magnolia grandiflora) in bloom, beauty berry (Callicarpa (S. coccinea), lyre-leaf sage (Salvia lyrata), columbine americana), needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), native (Aquilegea canadensis), hearts a-bustin’ (Euonymous azaleas (Rhodendron canescens), Florida anise (Illicium americanus), needle palm, spanish bayonet (Yucca floridanum), and arrowood viburnum (V. dentatum),. aliofolia), coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), Ellen points out monarch chrysalises attached to the oakleaf hydrangea, native azaleas, pipevine (Aristolochia house. Yes, the milkweed are Mexican but at least spp.), rough dogwood, and Florida anise. they’re supporting the monarch butterflies. A sunny bed beside the turtle nesting site contains various native Thank you, Ellen and Brad for creating this beautiful and wildflowers - well, anyway, it did until the deer ate them. wildlife-friendly space.

DON’T ENGAGE IN IMPOSSIBLE TASKS! (Connie Caldwell’s Yard Visit Report for June) Good advice, Paul. At that moment in our June yard visit at Paul and Irma Lyrene’s, he was telling us about his efforts to affect the balance of the various grasses in the mowed areas of his yard. But I’d say it is good advice anytime.

Paul and Irma’s 6 acres abut the Barr Hammock preserve - lucky them! The property is largely a seepage slope, with a thin layer of sand atop a rocky layer; hence, standing water after a rain is common. Paul says his experience during the 10 years on the property is learning which plants will grow and which won’t. Since blueberries, his specialty, won’t grow on this high pH soil, nor will many other desirable plants, Paul has brought in soil and created mounds for planting, and it works!

Largely forested with laurel oak, water oak, hickories, sweetgums, and magnolias, a few loblolly and slash pines remain though lightning takes down one or two of them every year. Efforts to grow longleaf pines in this soil have been fruitless, but elderberry is happy here and so are persimmons and black mulberry. Lots of citrus is thriving here too. We walk along mowed paths, where the mower has carefully avoided patches of blooming fleabane, gaillardia, coreopsis, and other wildflowers and sedges. Paul waits as long as he can for the first mowing of the summer, in order to enjoy the wildflowers. The first mound we come to contains melanthera and horsemint surrounding a craetagus flava. The next one has sparkleberry and Paul tells about his efforts to create a tetraploid one (from a mutant source) that can be interbred with highbush blueberry. Then we come to elliot’s blueberry, hypericum, crossvine, and cultivated rabbiteye blueberries. Lyreleaf sage and blooming wild petunias greet us here and there as we walk. Along the edges of the wooded areas we see sumac, peppervine, blackberries, muscadine grapes, ironweed, a black locust, halesia, oakleaf hydrangea, firebush, deerberry, beautyberry, saltbush, cabbage palm, and yaupon hollies. Paul tells us the yaupons are both females so he bought a dwarf male and now they are happily making berries.

Deeper in the woods, Paul points out a small sinkhole where there are indigobush, sweet shrub, and bumelia. He told us he’s concluded that, in this situation, the limiting factor for thriving plants is not shade but root competition - food for thought! More edge plants here are rouge plant, guinea weed, swamp dogwood with lots of berries, aralia spinosa, and passiflora incarnata. As we move on toward our cars we’re treated to red buckeye, coral bean, swamp milkweed, native azaleas, echinacea, and, most special, a blooming tarflower! Thank you, Paul and Irma, for hosting us once again. It seems we learn a lot whenever we visit you! One more yard with lots of native plant diversity - something each of us can contribute for the health of our planet!

Florida Native Plant Society Fall Native Plant Sale October 3-4, 2014

Mark your calendars for the Fall Native Plant Sale at Morningside Nature Center!

Friday, Oct. 3, is the exclusive members’ sale from 4:30-6:30 pm. Open ONLY to members of Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) & Friends of Nature Parks (FNP) . Memberships are available at the gate. Cash, checks and debit/credit cards are accepted! Saturday, Oct. 4, the sale opens to general public from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm.

This sale, featuring vendors of hard to find native plants, is the largest gathering of native plants for sale in north FL. Fall Native Plant Sale is hosted cooperatively by the Paynes Prairie chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS).,City of Gainesville's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department, the Friends of Nature Parks (FNP). More information about this and other events at Morningside Nature Center: http://www.cityofgainesville.org/ParksRecreationCulturalAffairs/NaturalResourcesamp;Programs/NatureHerit ageEvents.aspx. (Photo above from this website)

Morningside Nature Center is Looking for a Few Great Volunteers

Call for Volunteers! Long-term volunteers needed to help support the Living History Days program from September through May at Morningside Nature Center. Volunteers will interpret life on an1870s Florida farm. Period garb and training provided.

Currently the program takes place on the first Saturday of each month when Morningside Nature Center’s Living History Farm comes to life with staff and volunteers interpreting day-to-day north central Florida life during the late 19th century. Traditional crafts and trades such as blacksmithing, woodworking, quilting, knitting, soap making, spinning, weaving, and period folk music and are important parts of our program, as well as day-to-day activities such as cooking on a wood cook stove and feeding farm animals. On Living History Days, visitors can step back to a time when the roosters’ crow and the rising sun, not an alarm clock, welcomed a new day. In addition to Living History Days Volunteers, Morningside Nature Center is seeking long-term volunteers for the following: • Farm volunteers to assist with daily feedings of the livestock during the week. • Greeters both on the farm and at the Education Building during the week to welcome the public, answer questions and provide information about the nature displays. Any number of hours is appreciated. Gary Paul, the department’s contractual volunteer coordinator, explains, “Over the years we have had many wonderful volunteers at the farm who have made it possible to bring to life a real 1870’s farm, teaching children and adults what life was like. Due to budget cuts, the farm no longer has sufficient staff to work on Living History Days. We are reaching out to the Gainesville community seeking volunteers who have an interest in history and/or farm experience. For more information and the opportunity to volunteer, contact Gary Paul at 352-316-5364 or [email protected].

PLANT ID FROM THE MAY 8, 2014 MEETING from Rob Garren

Scientific Name Common Name Family Origin Asclepias tomentosa Velvetleaf milkweed Apocynaceae Native Asplenium platyneuron Ebony spleenwort Aspleniaceae Native Baccharis halimifolia Groundsel tree Asteraceae Native cf. Oenothera biennis Common eveningprimrose Onagraceae Native Cirsium nuttallii(sterile) Nuttall’s thistle Asteraceae Native Clematis catesbyana Satincurls Rananculaceae Native Decumaria barbara Climbing hydrangea Hydrangeaceae Native Fumaria officinalis Earthsmoke Papaveraceae Non-Native Galium pilosum Hairy bedstraw Rubiaceae Native Gamochaeta purpurea Spoonleaf purple everlasting Asteraceae Native Helianthemum corymbosum Pinebarren frostweed Cistaceae Native Ilex glabra Gallberry Aquifoliaceae Native Juncus coriaceus Leathery rush Juncaceae Native Nephrolepis cordifolia Tuberous sword fern Nephrolepidaceae Non-Native Philadelphus inodorus Scentless mockorange Hydrangeaceae Native Setaria parviflora Knotroot foxtail Poaceae Native Sideroxylon sp. (No generic name) Sapotaceae Native Smilax laurifolia Bamboo vine Smilacaceae Native Thelypteris dentata Downy shield fern Thelypteridaceae Non-Native

Relevant Notes: Asclepias tomentosais a perennial whose main predator is the monarch butterfly. Gallberry may be used in foundation shrubbery, mass plantings, or informal hedges and borders, as well as in naturalistic landscapes, ecological restoration projects, or habitat enhancement plantings. Bobwhite, turkeys, bluebirds, brown thrashers, hermit thrushes, and other birds frequently eat gallberry fruits and raccoons, coyotes, and opossums feed on them when other food is scarce. Marsh rabbits and white tailed deer browse on the leaves and black bears even eat them on occasion. Gallberry is also an important honey plant. Bees feeding on it produce a highly flavorful amber colored honey. Gallberry is not particularly invasive, but it may become a nuisance by forming larger clumps than desired and spreading into adjacent plantings. (http://www.floridata.com/ref/i/ilex_gla.cfm) (Nephrolepis cordifolia) is a fern native to northern Australia and Asia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephrolepis_cordifolia) George Washington ordered some mock orange, Philadelphus inodorus, from William Bartram in 1792. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphus) cited from Ann Leighton, American Gardens of the Eighteenth Century: 'ForUse or for Delight' , 1976. Native American groups used Smilax laurifolia medicinally. For example, the Cherokee used it for sores and burns. The tuberous rhizome was also a food source; the Choctaw made it into fried cakes and bread. (http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/laurel- leaf_greenbrier) cited from a website called University of Michigan Ethnobotany (http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Smilax+laurifolia). The complete website listed as “Native American Ethnobotany” (http://herb.umd.umich.edu/) and Dan Moeman is the contact. The workshop is educational and is not intended as a plant ID service. Nomenclature adapted from “Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants” (http://www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/). Submitted by Paul Cohen and Robert Garren

Field Trip Report for May - University of North Florida – Claudia Larsen

We finished our spring schedule of events with a field trip to Jacksonville for a guided tour by Check Hubbuch, the Assistant Director of Physical Facilities and Curator of the Sawmill Slough Preserve, an on-campus natural area at UNF. For details of the Preserve, visit www.unf.edu/physicalfacilities/Sawmill_Slough_Preserve.aspx

We walked on the boardwalk alongside a small lake admiring various wetland trees and shrubs. Green dragons and ferns carpeted the ground and birds sang and flew overhead welcoming us to their home. We viewed a small area with pitcher plants, sundews and bright yellow polygala.

The Preserve gradually changed to a drier sandhill area dotted with gopher tortoise burrows. The palmetto understory had been burned, resulting in new growth and the promise of fall wildflowers. Along the trail the forest floor we say Sandhill Milkweed (Asclepia humistrata), Green eyes (Berlandiera pumila), Creeping Mimosa (Mimosa quadrifolis) , Dollarweed (Rhynchosia reniformis) and a blue-flowered member of the Baptisia family (Pediomelum canescens.)

After a picnic lunch Chuck took us the main campus for a look at the landscape around the Biology building (pictured below), planted with beautiful beds of native shrubs and wildflowers. Color was everywhere including cutleaf coneflower, indian pink, coreopsis, and gaillardia. An inner courtyard contained many central and south Florida specimens and an amazing wire trellis of coral honeysuckle and cross vine. Chuck and his staff do a great job with their native landscaping and hope to incorporate more Florida natives in the future.

Thanks to Ellen Thoms for arranging and coordinating this diverse trip.

Field Trip to Jacksonville where chapter members toured native plantings at the University of North Florida.

Photo courtesy of Claudia Larsen.

Florida Native Plant Society Paynes Prairie Chapter PO Box 1004 Archer, FL 32618

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Paynes Prairie Chapter Activities Calendar - Fall 2014

SEP 11-Program meeting -Patti Andersen, Botanist, DPI

13-Sep Field Trip – Site To Be Announced at Sep. 11 meeting

OCT 7 -Planning Meeting, 5:30 pm at UF Fifield Hall

9 -Program meeting – speaker To Be Announced

11-Oct Field Trip - Ordway Conservation Area, Melrose

NOV 3 -Planning Meeting, 5:30 pm at UF Fifield Hall

13-Program meeting- Michael Campbell, Urban Forester

15-Nov Field Trip -Terry Zinn’s Wildflower Farm, Alachua

DEC No Activities this month

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