COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF PLANTS AT ALEXANDER SPRINGS TIMUCUAN TRAIL WITH BOTANICAL DETAILS OF THEIR FLOWERS AND FRUITS AND SOME BIRDS AND INSECTS THAT ARE ATTRACTED TO THEM DAVID KYLE RAKES AND LAVON SILVERNELL October 6, 2018 David: Author and ecologist living in Belleview, Florida; Lavon: Conservationist and ecologist living in Astatula, Florida. Introduction: Physical inventory of plants done July 4, 2018, and August 12, 2018, on the Timucuan Trail, Alexander Springs in the Ocala National Forest. Timucuan Trail is a boardwalk and path through a spring run woodlands next to Alexander Springs Run. Alexander Springs Run flows east approximately eight river miles to the larger and northern flowing Saint John’s River. Botanically any seed, nut, drupe, or berry is considered a fruit. Research conducted on-line and from reference books were used to learn more about the flowers and seeds and which birds and insects would be attracted to them. TREES (36 species) ​ American basswood, Tilia Americana ​ Flowers - 5-petal cream colored fragrant, bloom from May-June; Fruit - dry nut-like with 2 seeds, edible to animals and humans; Leaves – deciduous, heart shaped, edible to animals and humans, especially the young leaves for humans; Tree – sometimes confused with the red mulberry tree which has similar like leaves, mulberry however has milky sap at leaf stalk. Long lived tree, some as much as 200 years. Wood from tree is soft and often used for carving. I remember going to Cub Scouts as a child and carving a soap box car made of basswood. Birds and wildlife – songbirds and blue jays like the seeds. Bees attracted to the fragrant flowers and make a tasty honey. Basswood sometimes called the Bee Tree. Buds and young leaves edible raw or cooked, leaves used in salads, flowers eaten raw or cooked. Make tea from flowers. American elm, Ulmus Americana ​ Flowers – emerge before the leaves; Fruit – hairy, wafer-like seed called a samaras maturing in the spring ending in middle of March, tree must be 15 years old before it bears fruit; Leaves – deciduous, double serrated, fade to yellow in the fall before dropping; Tree – vase shaped, sometimes considered the variance “floridana,”grows 60-80 feet tall, extensive but shallow roots; Birds and Wildlife – Birds attracted to seeds and insects. Favorite of warblers including the black-and-white warbler. Other birds are American goldfinch, Baltimore oriole, black-capped chickadee, purple finch, red-bellied woodpecker, rose-breasted grosbeak, wild turkey, wood duck, yellow-bellied sapsucker. Larvae host to one moth, the Columbia silk moth, and four butterflies, mourning cloak, question mark, painted lady, and eastern comma. American holly, Ilex opaca ​ Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum ​ Black cherry, Prunus serotina ​ Blackgum, Nyssa biflora ​ Bluff oak, Quercus austrina ​ Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis ​ Cabbage palm, Sabal palmetto ​ Flowers – white fragrant and on stalks; Fruit – a black drupe that is edible; Leaves – evergreen, large fronds; Tree – palm is actually a monocot being more like a grass instead of a tree. In 1953 designated the Florida state tree. The most commonly found palm in the state. Birds and wildlife – fruit eaten by bob white, wild turkey, deer, squirrel, gray fox, raccoon, and bear. Bear also eat the heart of palm (meristem) which kills the tree. There is an intra-guild mutualism involving the cabbage palm tree, Florida bear, and the giant palm weevil. After the bear opens up the tree and eats it fill of heart of palm it leaves. The damaged palm sends out a pheromone which attracts the male weevil. Male weevil finds tree and sends out his own pheromone with the tree pheromone to attract female weevil. The male and female weevils gather on the palm to consume what’s left of the heart of palm and then mate. Female weevil lays some 200 eggs onto damaged area of palm. Eggs hatch within 64 hours, larvae feast and grow on palm. Bear returns to feast on adult and larvae weevils. Bears opening tree helps the weevil population. Bears not only eat the weevils so do burrowing owls and swallowtail kites. Additionally, the frond leaves of cabbage palm are food for the palmetto tortoise beetle. The manatee tree snail lives on the tree, estivating and then eating off the algae and sooty mold that grows on the fronds. The two-lined walkingstick herd during the day in the upper curved mid-vein petiole of the fronds, and disperse during the night to forage. The green tree frogs sleep on top or below the fronds, while the red paper wasp make their nest under the fronds. Carolina cherry laurel, Prunus caroliniana ​ Chapman oak, Quercus chapmanii ​ Dahoon holly, Ilex cassine ​ Eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana ​ Atlantic white cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides ​ Ironwood, Carpinus caroliniana ​ Live oak, Quercus virginiana ​ Loblolly bay, Gordonia lasianthus ​ Longleaf pine, Pinus palustris ​ Myrtle oak, Quercus myrtifolia ​ Pignut hickory, Carya glabra ​ Pond cypress, Taxodium ascendens ​ Red buckeye, Aesculus pavia ​ Flower – red and tubular, flowers in the spring; Fruit – seed called a buckeye because it is shiny and resembles the eye of a buck. Seed is toxic, and avoided by most wildlife, although squirrels are able to eat them. Seeds eaten cause muscle weakness and paralysis; Leaves – deciduous, palmate, very attractive; Tree - one of the earliest trees to leaf out, earliest to drop leaves; Birds and wildlife – ruby-throated hummingbird feeds on the nectar from the red flowers. The hummingbird weighs a penny and travels 500 miles, 18-24 hours non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico. Bird migrates in the spring and fall. Red maple, Acer rubrum ​ Flowers – red flowers in early spring; Fruit – tree must be 4 years old to bear seeds. Summer seeds are called samaras, but known to most kids as helicopter or whirlee because of their auto-rotating. Edible, seeds contain protein, even survival food in winter (roast or boil them); Leaves have red coloring, orange and yellow in the fall; Tree – lifespan 80-100 years; Birds and Wildlife – good for nesting birds. Good for insectivorous birds because tree is host to 300 butterflies and moth caterpillars. Insects attract tanagers and warblers, seeds attract rose-breasted grosbeak and northern cardinal. Wood ducks nest inside cavities of red maple. Red mulberry, Morus rubra ​ Flowers – green, slender drooping spikes; Fruit – red to purple juicy blackberry-like with numerous seeds. Edible to humans and wildlife. Considered a “super food” providing protein and antioxidants, berry season in Florida is a few weeks in April; Leaves – deciduous, scabrous or rough like sandpaper with many shapes; Tree – confined to low hammocks everywhere in Florida. Rarely lives 75 years. Tree sometimes confused with basswood. Red mulberry though distinguished by milky sap at leaf stalk. Unripe fruit and leaves with milky sap can be poisonous if ingested causing hallucinations and upset stomach; Birds and Wildlife – Many birds eat the fruit. More than 60 species of birds including quail, wild turkey, indigo bunting, tanager, catbird, mockingbird, brown thrasher, red-eyed vireo, bluebird, great crested flycatcher. As many as 20 species of birds have been counted on a single tree. Cedar wax wings, red-belled woodpeckers, crows, cardinals, even sandhill cranes and feral hogs. Larvae host to the red admiral butterfly. Rusty lyonia, Lyonia ferruginea ​ Southern magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora ​ Sparkleberry, Vaccinium arboreum ​ Sugarberry, Celtis laevigata ​ Flowers – inconspicuous stalked and green. Fruit – small round orange, red, and yellow ripening in late summer. Fruit edible, pulp around seed and seed inside. Highly nutritious, high in fat and protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins. Seed can be smashed into a meal, blended with water overnight makes a milk similar to almond milk. Leaves – deciduous, upside down teardrop shaped. Tree – likes moisture, different than north eastern hackberry tree which is more upland. Sugarberry has a narrower and smoother leaf than the hackberry. Laevagata means smooth, most of the bark is smooth, but also has corky warts. Birds and Wildlife – Birds eat the fruit such as mockingbird, and robin. White-tail deer browse the leaves and fruit, squirrels eat the fruit. The manatee tree snail lives on the tree and lays its eggs in the soil at the tree base. Larvae host to three butterflies, hackberry, tawny emperor, and American snout. Swamp chestnut Oak, Quercus michauxii ​ Swamp dogwood, or Stiff Cornel Cornus foemina ​ Flowers – creamy white in dense flat-topped clusters, flowering in the spring; Fruit – small blue globular with 1-2 seeds inside pulpy flesh. Leaves – deciduous, opposite elliptical from 2-5 inches long with point. All dogwoods have a vein or string when leaf pulled apart. Tree – lives in wet hammocks and swamps. Typically grow to 10-20 feet tall often broad as tall. Birds and Wildlife – Birds love the fruit because it has a high fat and calorie content. The leaves are a host to the spring azure butterfly that is north of Florida, and the cecropia silk moth, an extremely showy large moth. Sweetbay magnolia, Magnolia virginiana ​ Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua ​ Walter’s viburnum, Viburnum obovatum ​ Water oak, Quercus nigra ​ Wax myrtle, Myrica cerifera ​ Wild olive, Osmanthus americanus ​ Youpon holly, Ilex vomitoria ​ SHRUBS (13 species) ​ Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana ​ Coral bean, Erythrina herbacea ​ Deer berry, Vaccinium stamineum ​ False indigo, Amorpha fruiticosa ​ Highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum ​ Large sweet gallberry, Ilex coriacea ​ Needle palm, Rhapidophyllum hystrix ​ Pipestem, Agarista populifolia ​ Flower – very showy white urn-shaped in many flowered clusters. Fruit – a small round capsule. Leaves – evergreen, bright green with long tapered points on the apex. Leaves highly toxic, maybe fatal if eaten, vomiting, convulsions, paralysis. Shrub – Also called hobblebush, Agarista, or Fetter-bush. Likes moist woodlands, lower slopes of rich ravines, near springs and spring runs. Nice arching branch structure. Birds and Wildlife – Fruit eaten by birds. Flowers are fragrant and attract bees, butterflies and birds.