Palmetto
Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Plants: Jewels of the Ridge – Silene polypetala – Lilium irridollae
FNPS27thAnnual Conference Conservation Cures by Yards and Miles
For additional information
Contact Charlie Pedersen – charliepedersen@gmail.com Visit www.fnps.org and click the “Conference”link
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
FNPSIssues Policy Statement on Arundo donax
SAVE THE DATE! April 19 – 22,2007
Join this gator in Gainesville and enjoy a very special conference located in the heart of one of the most biologically diverse regions of Florida.Make plans now to attend!
Hilton University of Florida Conference Center 1714 SW 34th Street,Gainesville,FL Telephone:1-352-371-3600
On Saturday,October 28,2006 the Florida Native Plant Society adopted a policy statement on Arundo donax (giant reed or e-grass). Members of the Society have expressed considerable concern about Arundo’s potential to invade native Florida ecosystems.
Arundo donax QUICKFACTS
A large,clumping grass native to the Indian subcontinent.
Grown across most tropical to warm-temperate regions of the globe for ornamental horticulture,erosion control, biomass production (biofuel), and other uses.
Considered invasive in much of its introduced range.
Capable of extremely high photosynthetic rates,high water use and relatively good water use efficiency.
One of the most productive plant species in the world, growing up to 10cm per day under optimal conditions.
A.donax has invaded native plant communities in several parts of Florida,including Anastasia State Park,where an eradication program is in place.
Policy Statement
The Florida Native Plant Society opposes the agricultural production of Arundo donax (giant reed,e-grass,bamboo reed,arundo grass,giant bamboo reed,etc.) as a biofuel in Florida due to its invasive characteristics and empirical evidence of impact on native plant communities. The Society further encourages the eradication of existing stands of this species and the banning of its sale as an ornamental to prevent invasion of native plant habitats in Florida.
Read the complete Arundo policy and background statement online – visit www.fnps.org and follow the links to Programs > Legislation and Policy.
Apply Today for FNPS 2007 Endowment Grant Research Awards
The Florida Native Plant Society maintains an Endowment Grant program to fund research on native plants.
Grants up to $2500 are awarded for a 1-year period to support research that forwards the FNPS mission “to promote the preservation,conservation,and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities of Florida.”
Application deadline for the 2007 grant cycle is March 2. Grant awards will be announced at the 2007 Annual Conference in Gainesville.
For application instructions see www.fnps.org.Follow the links to Programs > Awards & Grants > Endowment Fund Grants.
For more information contact: Paul A.Schmalzer schmapa@kscems.ksc.nasa.gov
The purpose of the Florida Native Plant Society is to preserve, conserve, and restore the native plants and native plant communities of Florida.
Official definition of native plant: For most purposes, the phrase Florida native plant refers to those species occurring within the state boundaries prior to European contact, according to the best available scientific and historical documentation. More specifically, it includes those species understood as indigenous, occurring in natural associations in habitats that existed prior to significant human impacts and alterations of the landscape.
Organization: Members are organized into regional chapters throughout Florida. Each chapter elects a Chapter Representative who serves as a voting member of the Board of Directors and is responsible for advocating the chapter’s needs and objectives. See www.fnps.org
Board of Directors
Executive Officers
President – Shirley Denton
Past President – Bob Egolf
Vice President,Admin. – Joan Bausch
Vice President,Finance – Travis MacClendon
Treasurer – Susan Thompson
Secretary – Ameé Bailey Speck
Committee Chairs
Communications – Cindy Liberton
Conference – Charlie Pedersen
Conservation – Suzanne Kennedy,Eugene Kelly
Development – JoAnne Trebatoski
Education – Judy Gregoire
Finance – Travis MacClendon
Governmental Policy – Kim Zarillo,Annie Schmidt
Landscape Awards – Mike Kenton
Membership – Mary Ann Bolla,Lynka Woodbury
Public Lands – Charlie Pedersen
Publications – Eileen Szuchy
Science – Paul Schmalzer
Directors-at-large
Lauren Day (2006-2008)
George Kish (2006-2008)
Laurel Schiller (2006-2008)
Daphne Lambright (2005-2007)
Peter NeSmith (2005-2007) Lynka Woodbury (2005-2007)
To contact board members: FNPS Administrative Services
Phone:(321) 271-6702 info@fnps.org • www.fnps.org
To join or for inquiries: Contact your local Chapter Representative,or call,write,or email FNPS,or visit our website.
Florida Native Plant Society PO Box 278
Melbourne FL 32902-0278
Phone:(321) 271-6702 info@fnps.org • www.fnps.org
Webmaster – Paul Rebmann
Contract Services
Executive Director – Karina Veaudry
Accounting Services – Joslin &Hershkowitz
Administrative Services – Cammie Donaldson
Editor,Palmetto – Marjorie Shropshire
Editor,Sabal Minor – Rosalind Rowe
Hosted by the Paynes Prairie and Citrus Chapters
Photo by Dominick Martino,Friends of Paynes Prairie Preserve
Palmetto
Features
4Jewels of the Ridge
Twenty of the forty-seven vascular plants listed in Florida as threatened or endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service occur on the ancient sandy spine of the state known as the Lake Wales Ridge. Carl Weekley of Archbold Biological Station provides an overview of these rare jewels.
ONTHE COVER:
Departments
2FNPS News and Announcements
14Book Review –Wild Orchids of Florida –Updated and Expanded Edition Review by Chuck McCartney
16FNPSChapters
8A Panhandle Spring Specialty
One of the spring specialties of the Florida panhandle is a small but spectacular rare wildflower.Amy Jenkins takes us on a tour of the unique slope forests that are home to Silene polypetala, the fringed campion.
12Here’s Looking at You, Kid.
No question about it, the panhandle lily is a looker, but from the time of its discovery in 1946 it has been considered rare and getting rarer. Dr. Ann F. Johnson gives us a look at the “pot of gold” Lilium iridollae
Silene polypetala,Lilium iridollae, and Warea amplexifolia. Photos by Gary Knight,Ann F.Johnson and Shirley Denton.
The Palmetto (ISSN 0276-4164) Copyright 2006,Florida Native Plant Society,all rights reserved.No part of the contents of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without written consent of the editor. The Palmetto is published four times a year by the Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) as a benefit to members. The observations and opinions expressed in attributed columns and articles are those of the respective authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views of the Florida Native Plant Society or the editor,except where otherwise stated.
Editorial Content: We have a continuing interest in articles on specific native plant species and related conservation topics,as well as high-quality botanical illustrations and photographs.Contact the editor for submittal guidelines,deadlines and other information.
Editor: MarjorieShropshire,Visual Key Creative,Inc. pucpuggy@bellsouth.net Telephone (772) 232-1384 855 NEStokes Terrace,Jensen Beach FL 34957
Leave a lasting legacy
Participate in the Florida Native Plant Society Estate Giving Program. Please contact: Travis MacClendon, Vice President ofFinance,FNPS Blountstown,Fl 32424 850.674.4408 travismac@wfeca.net
Drawing by Jean Putnam
Photos by Shirley Denton, Gary Knight, Ann F. Johnson
Jewels of the Ridge
20 imperiled plants of the Lake Wales Ridge
Photos:facing page, from top left – Bonamia grandiflora, Warea carteri, Clitoria fragrans, Dicerandra frutescens, Polygonella myriophylla, Liatris ohlingerae, Prunus geniculata, Warea amplexifolia, Chionanthus pygmaeus. This page, below – Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium. Photos © Shirley Denton.
By Carl Weekley
Twenty of the 47 vascular plants listed in Florida as threatened (T) or endangered (E) by the US Fish and Wildlife Service occur on the ancient sandy spine of the state known as the Lake Wales Ridge (LWR). Although the LWR comprises less than 1% of the land mass of the state, it encompasses over 40% of its federally listed plants. All 20 species are endemic to the Ridge’s pyrogenic xeric upland ecosystems, including Florida rosemary scrub, scrubby flatwoods, oak-hickory scrub and sandhill. Lake Wales Ridge T & Es include species with fascinating biogeographical pasts and unusual ways of ensuring their reproductive futures. Some species are rare even when their preferred habitat is not, while others are so common that the illinformed could mistake them for weeds. What the 20 species have in common is the loss of habitat due to rampant development since the 1950s and the need for fire to promote the long-term persistence of their imperiled populations.
The species accounts presented might have been organized by family, biogeographic affinities, soil and habitat preferences, fire ecology, reproductive systems, or degree of rarity. The pigeon-holing scheme used is arbitrary and was chosen to illustrate a few of the many facets of the unique flora of the Lake Wales Ridge.
Habitat generalists
One way to characterize species is by their habitat preferences. Several LWR T & Es are habitat generalists, occurring in several distinct habitats. For example, scrub morning-glory (Bonamia grandiflora), despite its misleading common name, occurs in both white sand scrub and yellow sand sandhills. It is a trailing vine with large showy whitethroated blue flowers. Scrub morning-glory is unusual among co-occurring herbs in responding to fire by both resprouting and recruiting from a seedbank.
Papery whitlow-wort (Paronychia chartacea ssp. chartacea) is short-lived herb that grows in dense sand-hugging mats in
Florida scrub, scrubby flatwoods and in firelanes and other disturbed sites. Its name refers to its supposed medicinal properties in curing whitlow, the flaking off of the skin around fingernails. Flowers are minute and inconspicuous. Although the specifics of papery whitlow-wort’s reproductive biology are poorly understood, its populations thrive come fire, flood or off-road vehicle.
Sandlace (Polygonella myriophylla), another mat-forming species, is also known as woody wireweed because, in contrast to most Florida members of its genus, it is a long-lived sub-shrub with woody stems. While sandlace generally prefers white sand habitats, it also occurs on yellow sands. With its needle-like leaves, dark twisting stems and profuse creamy white flowers it has the stark beauty of a Japanese print.
Habitat specialists
As well as being geographic endemics, about half of the 20 LWR T & Es are also habitat endemics – species narrowly restricted to certain soil types or plant communities. There are yellow sand endemics like scrub buckwheat, Lewton’s milkwort and Florida ziziphus – each of which is described in a section below – and white sand endemics like the species described in this section.
The rarest of the white sand endemics is Avon Park harebells (Crotalaria avonensis), a diminutive herb known from only three sites in southern Polk and northern Highlands Counties. This tough little legume braves insect herbivory (and, at one “protected” site, damage by off-road vehicles) to maintain its small local populations. In response to herbivory and perhaps other factors, aboveground population sizes often fluctuate dramatically from month to month as stems die back and re-appear. Conspicuous yellow pea-like flowers require insect visitation for fruit set and seedling recruitment is rare.
Snakeroot (Eryngium cuneifolium), a member of the celery family, is both a Highlands County and a Florida rosemary scrub endemic. Rosettes of coarsely dentate wedge-shaped leaves are produced in the spring, followed by scapes bearing heads of greenish-white flowers. Snakeroot is killed by fire but
Jewels of the Ridge 20 imperiled plants of the Lake Wales Ridge
quickly recruits postfire from a persistent seedbank. Populations decline rapidly with time-since-fire and without fire local extirpations can occur in as few as 20 years. Thus snakeroot makes the short list as poster child for fire in Florida rosemary scrub.
Highlands scrub hypericum (Hypericum cumulicola) has slightly broader habitat requirements than snakeroot. Its primary habitat is Florida rosemary scrub, but it also occurs in the xeric scrubby flatwoods that often surround rosemary balds. Scrub hypericum is a knee-high multi-stemmed herb producing hundreds of flowers in late summer. Each petal of the five-petaled yellow flowers is twisted at its base like a propeller blade. Insect pollinators, primarily solitary native bees, are required for fruit set. Like snakeroot, scrub hypericum is killed by fire and recruits from a persistent seedbank, but it requires less frequent fire to maintain its populations.
As its name suggests, scrub blazing star (Liatris ohlingerae) is one of the most spectacular Lake Wales Ridge endemics. In the late summer, plants produce flowering stems bearing heads of bright pink flowers. Unlike snakeroot and scrub hypericum, scrub blazing star resprouts following fire. It is also unusual in having butterfly-pollinated flowers. While fruit set and germination rates are high, seedlings are rare and plants younger than four years of age generally do not flower.
Florida wireweed (Polygonella basiramia) is a wispy short-lived herb with multiple wire-like stems to two feet in height. The “weed” in its name may refer to its often dense populations. While its habitat requirements are as narrow as the preceding species, its geographic distribution is less so. Florida wireweed occurs on the Lake Wales, Winter Haven and Bombing Range Ridges. It produces small white flowers in the fall and is unusual in having separate bisexual and female plants, a breeding system known as gynodioecy. In contrast to other white sand endemics, Florida wireweed neither resprouts postfire nor recruits from a persistent seedbank. Instead it must re-colonize postburn sites by dispersal from nearby unburned populations.
Species with western affinities
At least three Lake Wales Ridge T & Es are disjunct taxa of genera centered on the deserts of the southwestern U.S. and
Mexico. These species are western colonizers of central Florida stranded by mid-Pleistocene climate change. Prior to 1.5 million years ago, what we think of as the Gulf (of Mexico) states formed a continuous band of xeric habitat from the Sonoran Desert to the Florida peninsula. A warmer and wetter climate isolated these species on the xeric central ridges of the state.
The most dramatic example of this phenomenon is Florida ziziphus (Ziziphus celata), which is also one of the rarest and most imperiled Lake Wales Ridge endemics. The nearest relative of Florida ziziphus is a species endemic to the Baja peninsula (Z. parryi) – about as far apart as two species can get and still occupy the same continent. Florida ziziphus is known from just six sites in Polk and Highlands Counties. It is a thorny shrub to six feet in height. While populations comprise dozens to hundreds of stems, most are clones – multiple “plants” sharing the same genotype. Although most populations flower profusely, none produce viable seeds because Florida ziziphus is self-incompatible. Currently there is only one publicly protected (sterile) population, but recent introductions offer the prospect of genetically and sexually viable populations in the future.
Scrub buckwheat (Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium) and scrub beargrass (Nolina brittoniana) are two other Lake Wales Ridge plants with strong western affinities. Scrub buckwheat is a long-lived herb that occurs exclusively on yellow sands in sandhill or related habitats. Plants resprout following fire and flower profusely. Since scrub buckwheat, like other scrub members of the buckwheat family, does not have a seedbank, most seedling recruitment occurs from postfire flowering. Flowering plants produce stems with many-branched inflorescences, each with small greenish-white flowers covered in silky hairs. Non-flowering plants persist between burns as one to several rosettes from a common root-stock.
Scrub beargrass is the single monocot among Lake Wales Ridge T & Es. As its name suggests, vegetatively it is grasslike in appearance. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants bearing conspicuous white flowers on stems up to four feet in height. Scrub beargrass is an edaphic generalist, occurring in both white and yellow sand habitats. It resprouts following fire, but also persists vegetatively in unburned sites.
Woody mints and annual mustards
In contrast to species with wide geographic affinities, several Lake Wales Ridge T & Es belong to genera restricted to the southeastern U.S. Woody mints in the genera Conradina and Dicerandra typically have narrowly restricted distributions in Florida and Georgia, while the genus Warea extends north to the Carolinas and west to Alabama.
Two of Florida’s seven Dicerandra species occur exclusively on yellow sand scrub dominated by myrtle oak (Quercus myrtifolia) and scrub hickory (Carya floridana) Lake Wales balm (D. christmanii) and Lake Placid scrub mint (D. frutescens) share many features, but differ in two conspicuous respects: D. frutescens has purple anthers and a refreshing minty fragrance, while D. christmanii has yellow anthers and smells like Vicks VapoRub. Both species are sprawling woody multi-stemmed sub-shrubs. Dicerandra species have horned anthers that require visitation by large insects to release pollen. Lake Placid scrub mint is pollinated almost exclusively by a native bee-fly and most likely so is Lake Wales balm. Both species are killed by fire but recruit from persistent seedbanks.
Short-leaved rosemary (Conradina brevefolia) is another sprawling mint known from only a few sites in Polk and Highlands Counties. In contrast to the Dicerandra species, almost nothing is known about the biology of short-leaved rosemary. Even its taxonomic status is in doubt due to its similarity to C. canescens which is restricted to the Florida panhandle.
Carter’s mustard (Warea carteri) and wideleaf warea (W. amplexifolia) are the only two annuals among the 20 T & Es. Carter’s mustard once ranged eastward to the Atlantic Coastal Ridge but is now restricted to the southern half of the Lake Wales Ridge. Wideleaf warea is known only from the “Warea Archipelago”, a fanciful name for the few remaining patches of sandhill where this critically imperiled species still occurs. Both species are single-stemmed but multi-branched herbs to three feet in height, and both occur primarily in oak-hickory scrub, turkey oak sandhill and scrubby flatwoods. Both species have ping-pong ball sized inflorescences consisting of dozens of four-petaled flowers. The flowers of Carter’s mustard are white, while those of wideleaf warea are rose Chablis-pink. Postfire recruitment from a persistent seedbank
To explore Archbold Biological Station,visit: www.archbold-station.org
For a list of endangered,threatened and rare species of the Lake Wales RIdge,see: www.archbold-station.org/fai/species4.html
results in dramatic population booms, resulting in fields sparkling with bloom.
Unusual breeding systems
Most Lake Wales Ridge endemics, like most flowering plants worldwide, are hermaphrodites capable of producing viable seeds through both outcrossing and self-fertilization, but four T & Es are noteworthy because of their unusual breeding systems.
Pygmy fringe-tree (Chionanthus pygmaeus), a member of the olive family, is a small multi-stemmed tree typically occurring as scattered individuals in sandhill or scrubby flatwoods. It is easily overlooked until it flowers in February.
Over millennia,rising and receding seas have exposed and covered much of the Florida Peninsula.Following glacial stages,polar ice-caps melted, waters rose,and a series of ridges stood as islands in a vast ocean that covered most of Florida.Isolated from their distant relatives,plants and animals existing on these ridges evolved unique characteristics.The largest of these ridges is the Lake Wales Ridge.
Source: Florida’s Ancient Islands – www.archbold-station.org
Osceola
By Amy Jenkins
A panhandle spring specialty
Imagine a showy fringed-petaled pink gracing the forest floor along gradual to steep slopes above the Apalachicola River...
Drawing by
Jean Putnam.
Printed with permission of FNAI.
Silene polypetala photo by Gary Knight.
Silene polypetala
One of the spring specialties of the Florida panhandle is a small but spectacular wildflower, the fringed campion (Silene polypetala). One of the rarest plants in Florida, Silene polypetala is a perennial herb with showy pink flowers that blooms profusely from mid-March to early May. Imagine a showy fringed-petaled pink gracing the forest floor along gradual to steep slopes above the Apalachicola River. Silene is a member of the pink family (Caryophyllaceae) whose representatives include chickweed and sand squares. It inhabits mature mesic hardwood forests on slopes and stream terraces over low-acidity soils.
Silene polypetala is considered by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory to be imperiled globally (G2) and critically imperiled (S1) in Florida. It is listed as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of Florida due to threats posed by logging and residential development of its habitat, predation by deer, inadequacy of existing protections, encroachment by invasive exotic species, and the small number of populations (Moranz et al. 2001). It is currently only known from the Florida panhandle near the Apalachicola River in Jackson and Gadsden Counties, along the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers in central and southern Georgia, and in the lower piedmont plateau of west central Georgia. [Fig. 1]
A recent Florida survey confirmed only 12 populations of Silene polypetala (Jenkins and Baker 2006) in addition to the 19 occurrences previously reported from central and southwest Georgia (USFWS 1996).
Silene polypetala is an evergreen perennial herb about 10 inches tall with opposite hairy leaves 1-4 inches long (Chafin 2000). It has a distinctively light green (almost chlorotic looking) color that to the trained eye is relatively easy to pick out from among the many other herbs around it. It spreads by runners that root at the nodes and in some situations can form dense mats but it usually occurs in scattered small clusters or individual plants. The flowering stalks arise from the tips of the runners and stand erect showing off their brilliant pale pink flowers (Chafin 2000). The flowers have five deeply fringed petals and are commonly about 2 inches across. The rich slope forests in which Silene polypetala occurs are mostly associated with the bluff and ravine systems along the Apalachicola River. These are well-developed, closedcanopy forests of upland hardwoods on steep slopes, bluffs, and ravines (Florida Natural Areas Inventory and Florida Department of Natural Resources 1990). Soils are generally sands, sandy-clays, or clayey-sands with substantial organics and occasional limestone outcrops. Slope forests exhibit one of the highest species diversities in the state, largely because of their mixture of cold temperate (e.g., beech (Fagus grandifolia), white oak (Quercus alba)) and warm temperate (e.g., southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)) species. Tree density is relatively high. Such forests are very sensitive communities whose delicate microclimate can be easily disturbed by timber harvests which open the canopy, or by hydrological manipulations which affect seepage and surface water sources. Their steep slopes quickly erode when unvegetated.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
Figure 1. Counties with Silene polypetala populations in Florida and Georgia.
Slope forests exhibit one of the highest species diversities in Florida largely due to their mix of cold temperate and warm temperate species. Photo by Ann F. Johnson.
Silene polypetala
The canopy, rather than having one or two dominant species, is characterized by a mixture of several trees including Florida maple (Acer saccharum subsp. floridanum), southern magnolia, tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), and American beech. An open subcanopy may be present and usually consists of witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), redbud (Cercis canadensis), eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), and American buckeye (Aesculus pavia). A shrub layer is usually present but rarely dense and the herbaceous layer is scattered to dense and commonly is comprised of vines, graminoids and forbs. These include Indian pink (Spigelia marilandica), poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata), Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), Florida yam (Dioscorea floridana), several Trillium species (Trillium underwoodii, T. lancifolium, and T. decipiens), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), prostrate blue violet (Viola walteri), heartleaf noseburn (Tragia cordata), and switchcane (Arundinaria gigantea)
Little variation exists in the habitat among the twelve Silene polypetala populations. Populations are found on all heights along the slope but are more commonly on upper to middle, rather than lower parts of the slope and on very steep and gentle slopes. Several sites have moderate to heavy invasion by exotic species that change the structure of the forest by increasing the density of the shrub or herbaceous layer.
Silene polypetala occurs in a hotspot for rare species, many at their southern range limits, such as croomia (Croomia pauciflora), burning bush (Euonymus atropurpureus), bay starvine (Schisandra glabra), Baldwyn’s spiny pod (Matelea baldwyniana), pyramid Magnolia (Magnolia pyramidata), eastern leatherwood (Dirca palustris), narrow-leaved Trillium (Trillium lancifolium), liverleaf (Anemone americana), wood spurge (Euphorbia commutata), Godfrey’s privet (Forestiera godfreyi), American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia), common pricklyash (Zanthoxylum americanum), Florida flame azalea (Rhododendron austrinum), and green violet (Hybanthus concolor)
A status survey for Silene was conducted in the spring of 2006 by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory to relocate all known populations and survey for any new populations (Jenkins and Baker 2006). All previously known populations were relocated, their
locations mapped using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, and their population and habitat characteristics recorded. Three new occurrences for Silene polypetala were documented during this status survey, extending the Florida range for Silene slightly to the north and south of the previous range known for this species. In general, populations of Silene tend to be either clumped or scattered in distribution. The larger populations are often made up of widely to densely scattered plants whereas the smaller populations are usually clumped together. Population sizes range from several vegetative plants to hundreds of flowering plants at any given site. The best estimate according to this most recent survey for total population size in Florida is 1500-2000 individuals making this a very rare species indeed.
Six of the twelve populations occur on publiclyowned property; the remaining six are on private property owned by large forestry companies. All of these properties are included within the boundaries of the Apalachicola River Florida Forever Project identified for public acquisition through the Florida Forever Program (Department of Environmental Protection 2005). In fact, the largest population of Silene polypetala with the largest blooming display occurs on private forestry property. This extensive population is approximately 600 x 250 feet in size and is located on a very steep slope with robust plants scattered throughout.
The greatest threat to Silene polypetala is habitat destruction via logging. Although Silene occurs on steeper slopes that are not as attractive to logging interests as the surrounding pine forests, many of the slope forests where it occurs are occupied by large mature hardwood trees that may be desirable for logging interests. Invasive exotic plant species are also a direct and growing threat to Silene populations. Seven of the twelve populations have exotic plant species growing in the immediate vicinity including species such as Ardisia crenata, Lygodium japonicum, Lonicera japonica, Nandina domestica, Ligustrum lucidum, Ligustrum sinense, and Phyllostachys aurea. Several of the sites that are protected on public property need careful exotic plant removal. However, before any exotic removal treatments begin, all Silene (and other rare plant) populations should be clearly flagged and no foliar herbicides should be used within such flagged areas. Botanical experts should be on-site when
contractors are applying herbicides to educate them in identification of Silene and other rare species to ensure they are not damaged.
Educating forestry companies on the rarity, threats, and management needs of Silene polypetala may be a reasonable approach to preserving private sites containing the species. Encouraging them to preserve habitat where Silene exists is imperative. Alternatively, no-cut buffers should be used around the populations if the slope forests are to be logged. Conservation easements could be a useful tool for willing landowners.
This rare species is a beautiful example of the rich flora in the slope forests of the Florida panhandle. Its restricted range, habitat, and threats all contribute to its extreme rarity. If you ever have the privilege of seeing the fringed campion you will most certainly be delighted. Hopefully these bright pink flowers will dot the spring slope forests in the Florida panhandle for generations to come.
REFERENCES
Chafin,L.G.2000.Field guide to the rare plants of Florida.Florida Natural Areas Inventory,Tallahassee,FL.
Department of Environmental Protection.2005.Florida Forever 5 Year Plan.Prepared by Division of State Lands in cooperation with Acquisition and Restoration Council.491 pages.Available at: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/lands/acquisition/FloridaForever/FFAnnual 2005/2005FloridaForeverReport.pdf
Florida Natural Areas Inventory and Florida Department of Natural Resources.1990.Guide to the Natural Communities of Florida.FNAI, 1018 Thomasville Road.,Ste 200-C,Tallahassee,FL 32303.
Jenkins,A.M.and W.W.Baker.2006.Status survey for fringed campion, Silene polypetala.Florida Natural Areas Inventory,Tallahassee,Florida. Moranz,R.,J.Blanchard,W.Castor,L.Chafin,G.Knight,R.Hilsenbeck, A.Johnson,and C.Kindell.2001.Rare Plants Conservation Through Private Action:Final Report to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Agreement # 1448-40181-98-J-016).Florida Natural Areas Inventory & The Nature Conservancy,Tallahassee,Florida.
USFWS.1996.Technical/Agency Draft Recovery Plan for fringed campion, Silene polypetala (Walt.) Fern.& Schub.Atlanta,Georgia.32 pp.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Amy Jenkins joined FNAI in 2004. Her background is in Florida ecology,field botany,and upland restoration of pastures in Central Florida.Amy has a master’s degree in Ecology from the University of Florida.
Palmetto is in need of articles on native plant species and related conservation topics,as well as high-quality botanical illustrations and photographs. Contact the editor for submittal guidelines,deadlines and other information at pucpuggy@bellsouth.net,or visit www.fnps.org and follow the links to Publications/Palmetto.
Jewels of the Ridge
Profuse blossoms with long white petals create an arresting image against a background of large dark green leaves. Pygmy fringe-tree flowers are morphologically bisexual (with both stamens and carpels), but are functionally either male or female.
Scrub plum (Prunus geniculata), a multi-stemmed shrub in the rose family, grows to five feet in height, but due to its sprawling habit it is often wider than tall. Plants are longlived and resprout vigorously after fire. Showy white flowers appear in February. Scrub plum individuals produce both male and bisexual flowers, a rare breeding system known as andromonoecy.
Two T & Es, butterfly-wings (Clitoria fragrans) and Lewton’s milkwort (Polygala lewtonii) have both “normal” (chasmogamous) flowers that open to receive insect visitors and closed (cleistogamous) flowers that self-fertilize. Cleistogamy is considered an adaptation to ensure sexual reproduction in habitats where mates or pollinators may be absent or unreliable. Butterfly-wings is a free-standing herb with one or a few purple-black stems to two feet in height. The large pea-like “normal” flowers resemble the more common butterfly pea (Centrosema virginiananum); the cleistogamous flowers are similar in bud, but do not open.
Lewton’s milkwort, a multi-stemmed herb usually less than six inches in height, occurs exclusively on yellow sands. Aboveground flowering stems produce 12-20 small bright pink-purple flowers that mimic pea flowers. Lewton’s milkwort also produces cleistogamous flowers on underground stems. It is one of only a few dozen species documented to produce both above- and below ground flowers, a trait known as amphicarpy. Lewton’s milkwort is perhaps unique within the Florida scrub and sandhill flora in having ant-dispersed seeds.
Research by plant ecologists from Archbold Biological Station, Historic Bok Sanctuary, The Nature Conservancy and several other institutions has greatly increased our knowledge of Lake Wales Ridge T & Es over the last 15-20 years. The latest available information from this research is included in the brief species accounts presented in this article. More detailed species descriptions, further information on on-going research, an exhaustive bibliography, and links to other websites are available at www.archbold-station.org
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Carl Weekley is a research assistant in the Plant Ecology Lab at Archbold Biological Station.He has been studying the plants and plant communities of the Lake Wales Ridge since 1995.
The panhandle lily (Lilium iridollae M.G. Henry) of northwest Florida
Here’s looking at you, kid
By Ann F. Johnson
No question about it, the panhandle lily is a looker. As rare as it is beautiful, it was first described by Mary Gibson Henry in 1946 from a specimen collected on August 1, 1946 near the Gulf coast in Baldwin County, Alabama (Henry 1946). She described its habitat as “sphagnum over black muck along a wooded creek”. Henry subsequently found 20 populations east of the original one, in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton counties, Florida.
Sixty years and at least seven surveys later, its known range in Florida remains the same, while its Alabama range has been extended slightly to include Covington and Escambia Counties, just north of the Florida border, and the number of known sites has grown from 20 to 80 (Judd 1980, FNAI 1992, Chafin and Schotz 1995, Johnson and Printiss 1999, Schotz 2004, Anglin et al. 2005, Johnson et al. 2006). [Fig. 1]
Lilium iridollae is 4 to 6 feet tall and usually bears a single flower nodding at the tip of a naked stem.
The stem has 2 or 3 whorls of leaves at midstem and is bare (or has only small scale-like leaves) toward the flowering tip. Though usually having only one flower, some stems have 2 or 3 and up to 8 have been counted on an exceptionally vigorous specimen.
The flowers have a yellow to light orange hue, in contrast to the orange to reddish hue of the flowers of two similar “tiger” lilies that also grow in panhandle Florida, L. superbum, the Turk’s cap lily, and
L. michauxii, the Carolina lily (Chafin 2000). Of these, L. superbum, a northerner ranging up to New Hampshire, favors the same wet mucky sites as L. iridollae and is found east and north of the panhandle lily’s range, in Jackson, Leon and Jefferson counties, Florida and in southern Alabama. In addition to its redder flowers, the Turk’s cap lily differs from the panhandle lily in being taller, leafier, and generally bearing more flowers per stem than its southern cousin. L. michauxii, in contrast, is shorter (2-3 ft) and occupies drier habitats (slope forests) than L. iridollae. The Carolina lily’s range overlaps that of the panhandle lily in Walton County and continues east to Liberty, Jackson and Gadsden counties in Florida, as well as north to the southern Appalachians. Mary Henry chose an unusual Latin name for her discovery to accentuate its flower color difference with its two rivals: “Because of its rich yellow color one may liken its flower to a golden treasure, and because it is the ‘pot of gold’ at the foot of my rainbow, I am calling this new species ‘Lilium iridollae’.” (According to Mark Garland, the specific epithet is a combination of the stem of the Greek word for rainbow (“irid”) and the Latin word for pot (“olla”).
For a time in the 1990’s the range of panhandle lily came close to being stretched to cover the Sandhills region of the Carolinas and Virginia. In 2002, however, the lilies from that area were described
as a new (fire-loving) species, Lilium pyrophilum M.W. Skinner and Sorrie (Skinner and Sorrie 2003). The Sandhills lily shares with the panhandle lily its wet mucky habitat and the tendency to produce secondary bulbs as offshoots from the original bulb; it differs in flower color (reddish orange), flower number (1-20 vs. 1-3 in panhandle lily) and the lack of fleshy scale leaves on its bulbs. The authors speculate that L. iridollae and L. pyrophilum may have shared a common ancestor, since eleven other species that grow in the same stream head habitat also have disjunct ranges between the Gulf coast and the Carolina Sandhills. Panhandle lilies with a reddish-orange tinge are occasionally seen and may be throwbacks to this putative progenitor.
The habitat of panhandle lily is largely the upper drainages of small wooded streams in steep terrain. The canopy is of these streams is open and mostly deciduous, consisting of black gum (Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora), red maple (Acer rubrum) and tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera). Panhandle lily is found either in light shade under the streamside forest canopy or poking its heads above the evergreen shrubs (Ilex coriacea, Cyrilla racemiflora) on the forest edge. Its populations are concentrated along the upper reaches of tributaries to the Escambia, Shoal, East Bay, and Blackwater Rivers. They are also found in larger, lightly canopied deciduous swamps near the mouths of the Yellow and Blackwater Rivers. One common denominator of these sites is permanently saturated soil with some clay content. Panhandle lily has not been found along tributaries of streams within its range draining coarse sandy soil, i.e., Sweetwater Creek and the west fork of Big Coldwater Creek (Schmidt, 1978).
From the time of its discovery the panhandle lily has been considered rare and getting rarer. Mary Henry recounts how she found only a dozen lilies at the type locality where a few years previously the local residents described the same meadow as yellow with lilies. This decline Henry blamed on heavy cattle grazing then occurring in the meadow (as well as hog rooting) and called for an end to open range in Florida. Openrange ended, the cows departed and with them went the yearly burning practiced by their owners to keep the grass fresh and green. Recent surveys (Florida Natural Areas Inventory 1992) now call for increased fire to keep streamside shrubs from shading out the lily. A 1999 resurvey of known sites for the lily by Johnson and Printiss found fish ponds, clearing, and bridge construction had eliminated 5 previously reported populations. Fish ponds were also noted by Skinner and Sorrie (2002) as a threat to its Sandhills cousin. Apparently these lilies tend to favor precisely those upper stream head stretches where construction of fish ponds escapes regulatory notice. On private lands the panhandle lily’s outlook appears bleak, but luckily most its range is on two publicly managed areas, Blackwater River State Forest and Eglin Air Force Base. The managers of both these areas are aware of their lily populations and practice regular burning (and have no plans for fish ponds).
CONTINUED ON PAGE
Drawing by Jean Putnam. Printed with permission of FNAI.
15
Photo by Ann F. Johnson
Fig. 1. Range of Lilium iridollae in Florida and Alabama.
Book Review: Wild Orchids of Florida
Updated
and
Expanded Edition
By Paul Martin Brown. 2006. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Softcover (Flexibind). 409 pages. $24.95.
Chuck McCartney,a fourth-generation South Florida native,is former editor of the American Orchid Society Bulletin.He is an avid amateur field botanist and wildflower photographer.
Brown also has problems giving proper credit to a couple of recent discoveries in South Florida:
Review by Chuck McCartney
Dr. Carlyle A. Luer’s 1972 book The Native Orchids of Florida is the gold standard by which other volumes on our native orchid species must be judged. Unfortunately, it’s out of print and new discoveries and a number of taxonomic changes have occurred in the intervening 34 years.
To fill the void, Paul Martin Brown published Wild Orchids of Florida in 2002. Now Brown has released an “Updated and Expanded Edition” of Wild Orchids of Florida. It doesn’t match the quality of Luer’s book, but it’s the best guide native orchid enthusiasts have on the subject.
Luer’s book was a large coffee table-size volume, unwieldy for use in the field, but featuring excellent photos including flower close-ups, plant details and habitat shots. Luer took most of the photographs himself over a period of 12 years tramping through the wilds of Florida.
Brown’s books are intended as field guides. Their small format lets them fit handily into a backpack and the thick coated paper cover repels dirt and water, making them useful for outdoor orchid exploration. Unfortunately, both editions of Wild Orchids of Florida suffer from uneven photographic quality, with images ranging from poor to superb.
The revised edition discards some older images and includes 37 new color photographs including Basiphyllaea corallicola, the state’s three smaller Calopogon species, Corallorhiza wisteriana, the recently rediscovered Cranichis muscosa, Pelexia adnata and Ponthieva brittoniae, Cyrtopodium punctatum, Hexalectris spicata, Macradenia lutescens (replacing photos from the first volume that looked more like M. brassavolae), the state’s two Malaxis species, Platanthera chapmanii, Pteroglossaspis ecristata, Spiranthes sylvatica, and Tropidia polystachya
The varying quality of the photographs is understandable since they represent the talents of an array of field photographers. Some photographs in the first book were miscredited or went uncredited, and such errors still exist in the revised version.
– On Page 26, under the discussion of Basiphyllaea corallicola, Brown writes: “In 2004 Russ Clusman of Miami discovered a substantial population along a roadside in southern Miami.” Although Clusman is now an intrepid Florida orchid explorer and increasingly fine field photographer, that new population of this rare orchid was actually discovered by Steve Woodmansee of the Institute for Regional Conservation and the Dade County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. In addition, the population is not in “southern Miami,” but in the city of Palmetto Bay, miles to the south of the city of Miami.
– On Page 214, the credit for the rediscovery of Ponthieva brittoniae in the pineland of Everglades National Park is given to “ENP staff.” The credit for the rediscovery of this species, not seen in Florida since 1987, belongs to Jimi Sadle of the Institute for Regional Conservation.
Brown loves the proliferation of names, so readers get discussions of purported natural hybrids, as well as a plethora of names for chance genetic mutations, even though these “forma” names are of questionable taxonomic value.
Taxonomically, Brown is a “splitter” of the first order. He has rarely seen a proposed new name he didn’t like and if he can’t find one, he’ll create it – witness Galeandra “bicarinata” and Govenia “floridana”. Thus, in the revised edition, he supports the resurrection of the genus Gymnadeniopsis for the species known since Luer’s book as Platanthera nivea but which seemed to be out of place in that genus. However, he also champions the transfer to Gymnadeniopsis of plants long known as Platanthera clavellata and P. cristata. He also transfers the southern Platanthera blephariglottis var. conspicua to species status as P. conspicua
The new edition of Wild Orchids of Florida follows the format of the earlier version, with the orchids discussed alphabetically by genus and then by species where more than one species occurs in the state.
Each species discussion includes the botanical name Brown has chosen to use and its author, followed by a common name (the latter a tricky selection, considering that most of these uncommon orchids don’t really have good “common names”). He then discusses the species’ general distribution and its distribution in Florida and offers a brief description of the plant,
leaves, flowers, habitat and flowering period, followed where appropriate by comments on other aspects of the species, its taxonomy and the history of its occurrence in Florida.
Each species is illustrated with multiple color photographs as well as a line drawing of the plant in flower by Stan Folsom. Although adequate, these are not the most elegant of botanical drawings, and the book’s editor has wisely chosen to use them relatively small. Some pleasant watercolor versions of these drawings have been grouped at several places in the new edition of the book.
One really useful feature of Brown’s format which is shared with other recent regional floras is a distribution map for each species. Each map shows Florida’s 67 counties, with a dot in each county where that species has been recorded. These distribution maps are an excellent quick-reference tool for users of this field guide. The revised version also corrects the erroneous distribution map first published for Spiranthes torta
A glossary, bibliography, list of photo credits, and index, along with other miscellaneous addenda, end the book.
“Here’s looking
at you,kid”
The panhandle lily has been listed as endangered by the State of Florida since 1992. Although under consideration since 1975, it is not currently listed by the Federal government.
Still, it’s comforting to think the panhandle lily will continue to nod its gorgeous heads beside panhandle streams in the depths of August through many a natural (and political) storm to come, so future generations can raise a glass and say, “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
REFERENCES
Anglin,G.,A.R.Schotz,and A.F. Johnson.2005.Survey for Lilium iridollae in the Pond Creek/Shoal River drainages,Okaloosa and Walton Counties,Florida.Florida Natural Areas Inventory,Tallahassee. Unpublished report to the US Fish and Wildlife Service,Jackson,MS.
Chafin,L.G.2000.Field guide to the rare plants of Florida.Florida Natural Areas Inventory,Tallahassee,Florida.
Chafin,L.G.and A.R.Schotz.1995. Rare plant survey of Eglin Air Force Base,1992-1994:final report.Florida Natural Areas Inventory,Tallahassee. Unpublished report to Eglin Air Force Base,Niceville,FL.
Florida Natural Areas Inventory.1992 (revised and updated 1995).Final status survey report for the panhandle lily (Lilium iridollae Henry).Florida Natural Areas Inventory,Tallahassee.
Unpublished report to the US Fish and Wildlife Service,Jackson,MS.
Henry,M.G.1946.A new lily from southern Alabama and northern Florida.Bartonia 24:1-4.
Johnson,A.F.and D.J.Printiss. 1999.A re-survey of known sites for the panhandle lily (Lilium iridollae) in northwest Florida,exclusive of Eglin Air Force Base.Florida Natural Areas Inventory,Tallahassee.Unpublished report to the US Fish and Wildlife Service,Jackson,MS.
Johnson,A.F.,A.R.Schotz,and B.Herring.2006.A survey for Lilium iridollae in the Yellow River and Blackwater River drainages,Florida. Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Tallahassee,FL (in prep.)
Judd,W.S.1980.Status report on Lilium iridollae.Unpublished report
to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Endangered Species, Atlanta,GA.
Schotz,A.2004.Status assessment of the panhandle lily, Lilium iridollae, in Alabama.Alabama Natural Heritage Program,Montgomery. Unpublished report for the US Fish and Wildlife Service,Jackson,MS.
Schmidt,W.1978.Pensacola sheet, Environmental Geology Series,Map Series No.78,Florida Geological Survey,Tallahassee.
Skinner,M.W.and B.A.Sorrie.2002. Conservation and ecology of Lilium pyrophilum,a new species from the sandhills region of the Carolinas and Virginia,USA.Novon 12:94-105.
*Humphrey Bogart’s toast to Ingrid Bergman in the movie Casablanca
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Ann Johnson,Ph.D. has been a community ecologist with the Florida Natural Areas Inventory since 1998.Ann has a Ph.D.in Ecology from the University of California at Davis and has done post-doctoral studies on scrub species at Archbold Biological Station in Florida.
Call for Scientific Papers and Poster Presentations Deadline March 2,2007
2007 Annual Conference of the Florida Native Plant Society Gainesville,Florida.April 19-22,2007
Researchers are invited to submit abstracts on research related to the native plants and plant communities of Florida,including topics such as preservation,conservation,and restoration.
Presentations at the 2007 Florida Native Plant Society Conference will include papers on April 20-21 and a poster session on April 20.Presentations will be approximately 20 minutes in length,allowing 15 minutes for the presentation and a 5 minute discussion period.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Submit an abstract of not more than 200 words as a MS Word file via e-mail to Paul A.Schmalzer schmapa@kscems.ksc.nasa.gov
Deadline is March 2,2007.Include title, affiliation,and address.Indicate whether you plan to present a paper or poster.
2007Conservation Grants
Projects that conserve native Florida plants and/or their habitat may qualify for an FNPS conservation grant.Grants of up to $2,500 are awarded annually.
Deadline for application is March 2.
Application instructions are on the FNPS Web site www.fnps.org.Follow the links for Programs/Conservation.
For additional information contact Suzanne Kennedy at sk321@earthlink.net.
Projects must be sponsored by an FNPS member or chapter.
FNPS Chapters & Representatives
For chapter contact information,please visit http://www.fnps.org/pages/chapters/chaptermap.php
1.Broward .........................Molly Taylor ....................................................mollytaylor_piesplants@yahoo.com
2.Citrus ..............................Teddi Bierly......................................................................jbierly@tampabay.rr.com
3.Coccoloba ......................Dick Workman................................................................wworkmandick@aol.com
4.Cocoplum .......................Joan Bausch.....................................................................................jclb@gate.net
5.Conradina .......................Renee Shaffer.................................................................shaffer_m@bellsouth.net
6.Dade ...............................Lynka Woodbury....................................................lwoodbury@fairchildgarden.org
7.Eugenia ..........................Sue Thompson....................................................................sue@pa-services.com
8.Heartland .......................AmeeBailey Speck...................................................................aturtle2c@aol.com
9.Hernando ........................Jim Clayton......................................................................geoska10@hotmail.com
10.Ixia .................................Jake Ingram...............................................................jake.ingramla@comcast.net
11.Lake Beautyberry ..........Ronald Plakke............................................................................flplakke@aol.com
12.Lakelas Mint ..................Royce Sisson.................................................................roycesisson@hotmail.com
13.Live Oak .........................Hal Rhodes................................................................rhodeslesstrav2@yahoo.com
14.Longleaf Pine .................Amy Hines.................................................................amy@sidestreamsports.com
15.Lyonia ..............................Ray Jarrett..............................................................................sjarrett1@cfl.rr.com
16.Magnolia ........................Eleanor Dietrich......................................................................eleanor43@aol.com
17.Mangrove .......................John & Christine Holyland .....................................christineholyland@comcast.net
18.Naples ............................Jan Long (President).................................................................jelong@naples.net
19.Nature Coast ..................Susan Vaughn..........................................................................vaughn_s@firn.edu
20.Palm Beach ....................Ray Miller................................................................................rmillerj@sfwmd.gov
21.Pawpaw .........................Paul Rebmann..................................................................wildflpaul@earthlink.net
22.Paynes Prairie ................Erick Smith..................................................................................edsmith@ufl.edu
23.Pinellas Debbie Chayet & Ray Wunderlich III.....dchayet@verizon.net; rayrunner@yahoo.com
24.Sarracenia Lee Norris .................................................................................lnorris@ectinc.com
25.Sea Rocket ....................Paula Berntson.......................................................................jepasm.3@juno.com
26.Serenoa ..........................Mike Kenton......................................................michael.kenton@co.manatee.fl.us
27.South Ridge ...................Roy Stewart................................................................................roidos@msn.com
28.Sumter ............................Holly Tuxbury...............................................................rtuxbury@tampabay.rr.com
29.Suncoast .......................George Kish......................................................................gkish@tampabay.rr.com
30.Tarflower ........................Rick Ehle........................................................................................(407)709-2408
The Florida Native Plant Society PO Box 278 Melbourne FL 32902-0278
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