www.ficuswww.suncoastnps.org.usf.edu/orgs/suncoast The Suncoast Grapevine
Newsletter of the Suncoast Native Plant Society, Inc.
Volume 30 Number 2 February 2013
Management of Bird Colony Islands Presented by Mark Rachal Wednesday, February 20, 2013 @ 7PM Hillsborough County Extension Service
Mark Rachal, Sanctuary Manager for Audubon’s Florida Coastal Is- lands Sanctuaries, will talk about some of the habitat restoration pro- jects that have been conducted using native plants on bird nesting islands. There will be lots of bird pictures and information about the efforts made to manage the bird islands for wildlife, and the constraints faced, including -
control of non-native invasive plants design of bird habitat on islands erosion control projects successional treatments to promote tern and plover nesting.
- Submitted by Cliff Brown
The Florida Native Plant Society was organized in 1980 to promote the preservation, conservation, and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities of Florida. For more information about the Florida Native Plant Society, please visit our web site: www.fnps.org
The Suncoast Grapevine—February 2013 Page 1
USF Spring Plant Sale April 13 & 14
Troy has volunteered to be the Plant Sale Coordinator again!
Volunteers will be needed April 11 - 14, please sign up at a meeting!
New Chairperson for Publicity/Social Media– Jabari Lee
We’re still looking for Outreach and Membership chairs We’re planning a plant buying trip for May 18 and need a leader to volunteer.
Devon is organizing a list of SNPS speakers to talk at local meetings of other groups, if you would like to speak or know of a group needing a speaker, please let her know.
Other News -
February 15, 6:00 to 8:00 pm Bok Tower— Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition Presentation March 9, Downtown Lakeland - Spring Obsession Garden & Art Event March 23, 9:00am-3:00pm Deland - Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival New book from Jaret Daniels -Wildflowers of the Southeast Field Guide
Thanks for helping with the January meeting to -
Nina Raymond for bringing the refreshments Fred Mulholland, Janet Bowers & Bunny Worth for providing plants for the auction.
Behind the scenes people that keep us going every month - Joanne Hoffman for the meeting room. Joel Jackson—plant auctioneer. Gar Reed—treasurer for the plant auction. Cliff Brown—speakers. Vikki Sinclair—librarian.
Note from the Editor
We are off to a good start for 2013, Cliff was an excellent speaker at the general meeting and the field trip to Dead River County Park was a great place to see the epiphytes that Cliff spoke about. We have a great fieldtrip list for this year, including a campout Nov 2-3 at Kissimmee Prairie State Park. The pre- liminary list should be on the website soon! - Janet Bowers, Grapevine editor
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Letter from the President February 2013
I am excited about the new year and grateful for your confidence. Our goal is to “promote Florida native plants”, and with our abilities and creativity, we are going to plant seeds and make a difference.
I am always in awe of the incredible wealth of knowledge, many years of experience and practical talent in our members. More and more, I see a growing interest in Florida native plants from the com- munity. Local government agencies are planting natives in right-of-ways and around government buildings. Developers are realizing natives “look like Florida”, not California or Asia. Rotary, FFA, Scouts, youth groups, schools, garden clubs and home owner associations all want to know more about natives. At our fall USF plant sale, we had an engineer from the City of Plant City looking for ideas on trees for a new street scape …….. And he was looking for native trees. We are their source of in- formation!
One shrub, one flower, one tree at a time, we have the opportunity to shape public opinion. Remem- ber when SWFWMD started their campaign to get hotel guests to reuse towels and sheets? Now we see “reuse” signs everywhere we go across the country. It starts small and gradually grows. One shrub, one flower, one tree at a time…….. And they are coming to us for direction.
Thank you for all you do! Devon Higginbotham
Gorgon O'Connor’s Memorial Garden Some of our chapter members will remember Gorgon O'Connor who was a ranger at Werner- Boyce Salt Springs State Park. Gorgon led many a field trip into the salt marshes and salt barrens for several native plant chapters and special groups. Her friends and the Pasco Chapter have planted a memorial garden, Gorgon's Garden, at the entrance to Werner-Boyce State Park. The dedication will take place on March 19, at 10 AM, at the entrance on US 19 just north of Ridge Road and the Walmart shopping center. Her sister will be in attendance.
-Submitted by Carmel van Hoek
Fieldtrip Preview (check the website for more, Feb is on the next page)
March 23 Upper Little Manatee River Preserve. We will get to see pygmy fringe tree (Chionanthus pygmaeus) and perhaps have the opportunity of comparing it with white fringe tree (Chionanthus virginianus). With luck, these species will be in bloom.
April 20 Brooker Creek Headwaters Preserve. We will be looking for pitcher plants and spring-blooming or- chids. Depending on water levels, we may take a swamp walk.
Florida Native Plant Society 2013 Conference
The Florida Native Plant Society annual conference will be held at University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, May 16-19, 2013. Register now at fnps.org/conference/2013. We hope to raffle off some registrations again this year. Several people are making plans to attend, we will be listing names in the newsletter to help coordinate carpool- ing and room sharing.
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Fieldtrip to Dead River County Park - January 16
Steve and Shirley led us on a fieldtrip January 16. We saw many coffee plants, Tillandsias and ferns along the trail between the river and swamp. We also ventured off the path and saw some unique plants. It was lovely weather and great to be outside. More pictures on Suncoastnps.org courtesy of Joel Jackson.
Partial list of plants -
Blechnum serrulatum (swamp fern) Campsis radicans (trumpet vine) Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood) Celtis laevigata (hackberry) Encyclia tampensis (butterfly orchid) Epidendrum conopseum (greenfly orchid) Fraxinus caroliniana (pop ash) Harisella porrecta (jingle-bell orchid) Joel Jackson Hypoxis curtissii (yellow star-grass) Lithachene humilis (a dwarf bamboo from Honduras, first reporting from the wild in Florida) Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia) Michella repens (partridge berry) Psilotum nudum (whisk fern) Quercus laurifolia (swamp laurel oak) Phanopyrum gymnocarpum (savannah panicium) Phlebodium aureum (golden polypody fern) Pityopsis graminifolia (silk-grass) Polypodium polypodioides var. michauxium (ressurection fern) Janet Bowers Psychotria nervosa Psychotria sulzneriJ Rhynchospora mixta (beak rush) Sideroxylon languinosum Janet Bowers Sabal palmetto (cabbage palm) Smilax bona-nox
Smilax pumila Sphagnum sp. Taxodium distichum (bald cypress Thelypteris sp. Tillandsia setacea Tillandsia bartramii Tillandsia floridana Tillandsia setacea
Tillandsia usneoides Tillandsia utriculata
Fieldtrip to Gator Creek Reserve, Polk County -February 23
Meet at 9:00 am at the site
The Gator Creek Reserve is just north of Lakeland. It offers gentle trails through woods along the headwaters of Gator Creek. We will walk through a mosaic of cypress swamps, hardwood forests and marshes interspersed with slightly ele- vated areas where we anticipate early spring wildflowers. We will walk the Piney Wood Trail (2.1 miles). For a trail map, download http://polknature.com/_content/Gator_Creek_Reserve_Trail.pdf.
To reach the Reserve, go east on I-4 to Lakeland. Exit at SR 98. Take SR 98 north approximately 1 mile north of where the 4-lane road changes into a 2-lane road. The entrance is on the right. For more information, see http://polknature.com/ explore/gator-creek-reserve/?section=Default&path=gator-creek-reserve . Submitted by Shirley Denton & Steve Dickman
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Plant Profile Common name : Florida Air Plant Botanical name: Tillandsia simulata Small Synonyms: None Family: Bromeliaceae Plant Habit: Epiphytic on branches, limbs, and trunks of various tree species or occasionally terrestrial on humus Habitat: Hammocks and swamps Size: 20-40 cm tall, rarely to 60 cm Leaves: Pale gray-green tinged with red, linear, slightly recurved outward Inflorescence: Spike green or red or red-tinged bracts; petals violet, 4-5 cm long Flowering time: Spring and summer Distribution: Levy, Putnam, and Flagler Cos. south to De- Soto and Highlands Cos. Light: Filtered light Propagation: Seeds or removal of offsets (pups) Maintenance: Removal of old flowers and leaves; easy to grow on wood, cork, or osmunda slabs once established Availability: Not commercially available Comments: Of Florida’s 16 species of native bromeliads, photo by Shirley Denton this is the only one that is endemic. All of Florida’s native bromeliads are being attacked by the invasive, exotic Mexican bromeliad weevil. References: Save Florida’s Bromeliads: Conservation of Endangered Airplants Through Biological Control and Seed Collection. http://savebromeliads.ifas.ufl.edu Wunderlin, R.P. and B.F. Hansen. 2003. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Wunderlin, R.P. and B.F. Hansen. 2005. Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (http://plantatlas.usf.edu/). Information compiled by Shirley Brown and Dick Wunderlin (from Feb 2005 newsletter)
Membership in the Florida Native Plant Society enables you to receive their Check pertinent category: wonderful quarterly magazine The Palmetto. Joining the SNPS also entitles you to membership privileges in the Suncoast Native Plant Society and a Individual/Renewal $35 Not-for-profit subscription to their monthly newsletter The Suncoast Grapevine. Contact Full time student $15 organization $50 the membership chair, Shirley Denton, at 986-6485. Library subscription $15 Business or Family or household $50 corporate $125 Contributing $75 Supporting $100 Life $1,000 Donor $250
Make check payable to FNPS. Detach and mail to: FNPS P.O. Box 278 Melbourne, FL 32902-0278
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Activities & Committee Chairs Newsletter Submissions Deadline for the next issue: Meeting Location Field Trips Shirley Denton 986-6485 March 1 2013 The Suncoast Native Plant Society, Steve Dickman 326-0221 Please send articles and original Inc. meets the third Wednesday of Publications artwork for The Suncoast Grapevine the month @ 7pm @ the Dick Wunderlin 977-6484 to Janet Bowers, by the deadline Hillsborough County Extension George Kish 920-0853 Service office in Seffner. above. Text should be in MS Word; Librarian graphics should be in a standard SNPS Web Address Vikki Sinclair 989-2896 graphic format (.jpg, .bmp, .gif). Membership http://www.SuncoastNPS.org Previously published artwork should TBD be accompanied by a letter of Newsletter Editor permission from the original Janet Bowers 759-2822 publisher. Mike Fite, Assistant 977-0892 Email- Programs [email protected] Cliff Brown 810-3211
Publicity/social media Jabari Lee DIRECTIONS TO: Outreach Hillsborough County TBD Extension USF Plant Sales 5339 County Road 579 Troy Springer 967-4538 Seffner USF Botanical Garden Liaison Kim Hutton 974-2329 Take I-4 to Exit 10 (just east Chapter Representative of I-75). Go south for two Devon Higginbotham 478-1183 blocks. The office is at the Webmaster corner of Old Hillsborough Ron Huston 951-0946 Road and County Road 579.
Board of Directors President Devon Higginbotham [email protected] Suncoast Chapter of Florida Native Plant Society, Inc. P.O. Box 1158 Vice-president Seffner, FL 33583-1158 Cliff Brown [email protected]
Secretary Janet Bowers [email protected] Please deliver to : Treasurer Gar Reed [email protected]
Board Members Debbie Butts [email protected]
Daphne Lambright [email protected]
Page 6 The Suncoast Grapevine—February 2013