Titusville balm (Dicerandra thinicola).
from the University of Minnesota in 1932, then later became the curator of the University of South Florida’s herbarium in 1960, where she remained until retiring in 1973. Many old timers (like me!) who have been involved in the flora of Florida for decades remember her as a coauthor of the monumental book, A Flora of Tropical Florida, published in 1971. Savanna balm (Dicerandra immaculata var. savannarum) is a federal- and state-listed endangered perennial that was historically known from coastal dunes and interdunal swales of St. Lucie County until much of its habitat was ravaged by developers. In 1995, botanists Keith Bradley and George Gann found plants of savanna balm along a railway and on private property in St. Lucie County, so some of those plants were rescued and relocated to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales where they were propagated for reintroduction projects. Cheryl Peterson of Bok Tower’s Rare Plant Conservation Program reports that through their reintroduction efforts there are now several thousand plants in 4 populations within Savannas Preserve State Park in St. Lucie County. It bears flowers similar to Lakela’s balm but with brownish anthers. Coastalplain balm (Dicerandra linearifolia var. robustior) is an annual found in sandhills from Jackson, Calhoun,
6 ● Palmetto
Liberty, and Franklin Counties west to Hamilton and Lafayette Counties, with outlying populations in Duval, Alachua, and Citrus Counties into southern Georgia. It has pink flowers adorned with dark pink dots and reddish-brown anthers. It was first described in 1987 by University of Florida botanist Robin Huck. Blushing scrub balm (Dicerandra modesta) is a perennial species endemic to scrub habitat in Polk County and was first discovered by Nancy Bissett and Steve Riefler while searching for a rare Rhododendron. Botanist Kris DeLaney of Avon Park later found additional populations nearby. It was described as a new species for Florida in 2008 by University of Florida botanist Robin Huck but, surprisingly, is not yet listed by any agency as threatened or endangered. The white flowers bear red dots and the anthers are white to reddish-brown. Titusville balm (Dicerandra thinicola) is a state-listed endangered species found exclusively in what is called Paola and Astatula fine sands that formed on marine ridges in Brevard County, where it was first discovered in 1987 and then described in 1993 by botanist Harvey Alfred Miller (1928–2020). There are only a few known populations in small preserves and on private lands. The flowers of this perennial are pink and white with dark pink lines and dots, and bearing white or purple anthers. While habitat loss due to agriculture and development are the principal causes of plant extinctions, other factors that can contribute to the loss of our rare, endemic Dicerandra species in Florida are fire suppression, habitat mismanagement, invasive exotic pest plants, and sea level rise caused by global warming. The Florida Native Plant Society is actively monitoring populations of Dicerandra cornutissima and D. modesta, and is assisting land managers with habitat restoration efforts in Marion and Sumter Counties as well as restoring the area damaged by a pipeline and transmission line in Polk County. With rampant, unfettered development proceeding at a record pace throughout Florida, the protection and preservation of Florida’s critically imperiled endemic plants has taken on new urgency. References Hammer, Roger L. Complete Guide to Florida Wildflowers. 2018. Rowman & Littlefield FalconGuides, Helena, MT Huck, Robin B. Dicerandra fumella (Lamiaceae), A New Species in the Florida Panhandle and Adjacent Alabama, with comments on the D. linearifolia complex. 2010. Rhodora, Vol. 112, No. 951, pp. 215–237. University of South Florida Atlas of Florida Plants, Institute for Systematic Botany; https:// floridaplantatlas.usf.edu Wunderlin, Richard P. and Bruce F. Hansen. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. 2011. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL
About the Author Roger L. Hammer is an award-winning professional naturalist, author, botanist and photographer. His most recent books are Paddling Everglades and Biscayne National Parks and Foraging Florida – Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods in Florida. Find him online at www.rogerlhammer.com.
Volume 40:3 ● 2024
