VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1
YELLOW JESSAMINE
by Constance Fenimore Woodson
In tangled wreaths, in clustered gleaming stars, In floating, curling sprays,
The golden flower comes shining through the woods
These February days; Forth go all hearts, all hands, from out the town,
To bring her gayly in, This wild, sweet Princess of far FloridaThe yellow jessamine.
The live-oaks smile to see her lovely face
Peep from the thickets; shy, She hides behind the leaves her golden buds Till, bolder grown, on high
She curls a tendril, throws a spray, then flings Herself aloft in glee, And, bursting into thousand blossoms, swings In wreaths from tree to tree.
The dwarf-palmetto on his knees adores
This Princess of the air; The lone pine-barren broods afar and sighs, "Ah! come, lest I despair;"
The myrtle-thickets and ill-tempered thorns
Quiver and thrill within, As through their leaves they feel the dainty touch
Of yellow jessamine.
The garden-roses wonder as they see
The wreaths of golden bloom, Brought in from the far woods with eager haste
To deck the poorest room,
The rich man's house, alike; the loaded hands
Give sprays to all they meet, Till, gay with flowers, the people come and go, And all the air is sweet.
The southern land, well weary of its green
Which may not fall nor fade, Bestirs itself to greet the lovery flower With leaves on tresher shade;
FLORI DA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
935 Orange Ave., Winter Park, Florida 32789
FEBRUARY, 1983
The pine has tassels, and the orange-trees Their fragrant work begin: The spring has come - has come to Florida With yellow jessamine.
THE PALMETTO
(ISS -0276-416-1)
Florida ative Plant Society 935 Orange Ave ., Winter Park, Fl 32789
Copyright 1983 by The Florida Conservation Foundation
Peggy S. Lantz, Editor Rt. 3, Box 437 - Orlando, Fl 32811
Tl 11 PALMl I I ( ) is publishedquarterly by the I lorida Native l'l,1111 So ciety under the auspices of J he Environmental Information ( enter and The Florida Conservation I oun• dation
\ We enc ourage the reuse of the artic les apbearing 111 The Palm e tto 111 order to 1 sseminate information on f lorida native plants as widely aspossible, but in accordance w ith the copyright law permission must be granted in writing by the Editor or the Publisher, credit mu s t be given to The Palmetto and The Florida Native Plant Society and the notice of copyright must appear in the reprinted article
Articles on any aspect of Florida native plants are invited I nc lude drawings or photos II possible They will be handled with c are, and will be returned 11 you include a self-addressed stamped envelope Send to Peggy S Lantz, Editor.,The Palmetto, Rt. 3 , Box 437 , Or l ando, FL 328 11 , 305 / 299- I 472.
The poem, Yellow Jessamine by Constance Fenimore Woolson , · on the cover of this issue of Palmetto, was submitted by Harold Nett, President of Halifax River Audubon Society of Daytona Beach , and hunter ()( champion trees. He says " Constance Fenimore Woolson was agrandn iece of the classic American novelist, James Fenimore Cooper, and during her life (1840-1894) lived in Florida from 1873 to 1879, at St. Augustine, I believe "
SPRING AT THE CREEK
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
wonder what spring would mean rises and the creatures mate and the to one who was encountering it, if snakes come out of their winter's such a thing were conceivable, for the lethargy. Because it is familiar and first time. My notion is that it would beloved, we watch every gradation. It mean nothing. Spring is beautiful is dear to us because knowledge of it is because it is familiar. Its implications necessary to recognize its variations. are stirring because we understand There is no one sign of spring, but them. We know the cold that several spontaneous burstings At the precedes it and the hot sun that will moment of the cypresses' needled follow it. It is generally believed that sprouting and the swamp maples' the northern spring is more portentous : glory of color, there bloom the yellow than the tropical or sub -tropical , jessamine and the red-bud. The spring, because the contrast between jessamine is at its height, spilling cold and warmth, between frozen waterfalls of gold from high in the sterility and hot fertility is more ap- tallest trees, when the major miracle parent. This is not true when, as in the occurs One evening there is the sub-tropics at Cross Creek, spring is so jessamine in the sunset, alone in a well known that its coming is as impor- world of arrested color. The next morntant as a sm i le across a beloved face A ing there is a tinge of green across the very clever poet, Wallace , Stevens , gray Spanish moss, and infinitesimal ended a poem with saying there rosy blossoms may be discovered is no spring in Florida." He came ' as a along its strands, the distant hammock stranger, a traveller, to Florida,and the is emerald, and on the soft air floats a lushness of spring was to him only fragrance for which we have hungered lushness . He could not differentiate the whole year through . The first among the shades of green, which ,at orange blossoms have opened For Cross Creek tell us when to plant-sand the seasons at the Creek are marked, when to fertilize and when to not by the calendar, but by fruits and cultivate. He did not know when the flowers and birds. red-bird begins to sing again and when After a warm winter, the jessamine the cypress bursts from gray bareness blooms in late January and the orange into a dress of soft needles and the trees in early February After an swamp maple puts out young pas- average winter, the jessamine blooms sionate red leaves . in early February and the oranges in At the Creek , spring is as definite the middle of the month After a long and as exciting as in Greenland. We winter with protracted cold, as this have not had snow behind us, but we year, the jessamine waits wisely until have had an ungrowing period, as the frost is over have they, and life now stirs and sap from Cross Creek
SW EETPRINC CESS OF FARFLORIDA
T he Yellow Jessamine
by Melanie Darst
Whether you call it "jessam i ne" or "jasmine," "Carolina" or "yellow," "evening trumpet-flower " or "poor man's rope," it still must be descr i bed with the same adjective - beautiful. Wild Flowers of Florida (Fleming, Genelle, and Long) says it belongs to the logania family, is a woody, evergreen perennial vine up to 20 feet long. [I have seen it climbing up to 50 feet to bloom in the tree tops. - Ed.]
Yellow jessamine is described.· by R.K Godfrey as a "lemon yellow' '; J. K. Small says "deep-yellow. " The Latin name is Gelsemium sempervirens (L.)Taume St. Hil. Gelsemium is a latinization of "gelsemino," the Italian name of jasmine. The common names
are Carolina jessamine and yellow jessamine. J K. Small in his Manual of the Southeastern Flora also lists Evening trumpet-flower. R K Godfrey and W.J. Wooten (Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States) have Poor-man's rope for another common name. Gelsemium is a genus wlth three species: one Asiatic, the other two found in the Southeast. G. sempervirens is more widespread. It is found from Florida to Virginia and Texas. C rankii is commonly found growing in waterlogged soils. lri Florida its range is from Escambia to Leon and Wakulla counties. In bloom the two are easily distinguished by fragrance, G. rankii having none. G. sempervirens is described as delicately
fragrant by Godfrey Not having any at hand to smell, I can't give you my opinion.
Along the fencerows, through the hammocks, slim dry vines are suddenly a mass of golden bloom, so fragrant that the initiate all but swoons . Like many tropical flowers, the jessamine is most potent in the night time. I have been on Orange Lake by night and had the scent of the jessamine come so strongly from the far shores that it seemed an immense perfume flask had been spilled from the stars.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, in Cross Creek C sempervirens can grow in a variety of habitats from well-drained upland
FLORIDA ELM ----------
-------- An Overlooked Native
by Steve Farnsworth
The little-known Florida Elm, Ulmus americana var. floridana, is one of our best native shade trees, but hasn't been publicized and planted as much as it deserves . A southern form of the American elm, it grows throughout the State in low, moist hammocks and river margins from Lake Okeechobee northward. The American elm, a much larger tree, is found only in the bottomlands around the Apalachicola River in the Panhandle.
A long-lived deciduous tree commonly living 150 years or more, the YELLOW JESSAMINE woods to lowlands where water stands only for short periods. It is very noticeable in late winter when blooming in fencerows.
This evergreen vine trails along the ground until it reaches a support. Then it twines its way up, often falling over and twisting upon itself. The opposite leaves are lance-shaped with wide spacing between the pairs on their brown stems. The flowers are about one inch long, yellow and funnelform, the five lobes of the corolla tube spread apart at the opening. Later the plant bears capsules 1/2 inch to an inch long which contain winged seeds.
Yellow jessamine is poisonous to bees. Like other members of the loganiaceae, the parts of the plant contain alkaloids. One member of the family is the common source of strychnine. However, bees seem to naturally avoid the plant.
In northern Florida yellow jessamine blooms in late February and early March. It is then we see these garlands of yellow stars on wiry stems lighting the cold winter woods. (In the Orlando area they bloomed in late December this year. -Ed.)
Jan Clark and I are growing it at our nursery, Bullbay Creek Farm, in Tallahassee. So far we have been unable to catch it in fruit, so I do not know about growing it from seeds. We have transplanted it from the areas we have had to clear for our nursery stock. It transplants easily. It is sometimes a bit slow growing, but can tolerate almost any soil, light, or moisture condition as far as our experience has shown. Watkins and Wolfe in Your Florida Garden say it can be propagated by seeds, layering, or cuttings.
Florida elm reaches a maximum height of 50 feet with a broad crown of nearly equal spread. When grown in the open, it produces the typical elm outline - vase-like with a crown shaped like an inverted cone. A fast grower when young (20 feet in four years!), the growth rate slows considerably when the tree begins to produce seeds in about its tenth year. This elm forms a trunk one foot in diameter that is covered with grayish bark in vertical ridges and fissures, and buttressed at the base in soft, shallow soils.
Like its frequent and flashier associate, the red maple, Florida elm prefers moist, fertile soil, but will grow in any soil of reasonable moisture and fertility. It tolerates partial shade and temporary flooding, but seems to grow on slightly higher ground than the maples. In general, this elm can be grown anywhere that red maple succeeds. This is especially true in South Florida where the elm doesn't naturally occur; trees in Palm Beach and Dade counties are doing beautifully Other frequent associates are laurel oak, sugarberry, sweetgum, black tupelo, loblolly bay, green and pop ashes, hornbeam, and sweetbay.
In my travels in the state, it seems that Florida elm is most common in south-central Florida slough areas. It flowers there in late January in inconspicuous dusters of small green blooms hanging from drooping stalks on bare branches. Fruit development is rapid and the seeds fall in midFebruary as the trees leaf out. This elm is especially beautiful after leafing out in spring, forming a mass of bright, clear, clean greenery setting off the mixed green and red of the maples. The flowering and leafing sequence is the same in North Florida but is delayed by a month.
The seeds are rathtr curious,
February 1983, PALMETTO, Page 3 greenish-brown ovals, a half inch long, containing a central seed surrounded by a papery wing. They have a fringe of short ciliate hairs and a notched tip and can be found in large numbers under the trees at the right time of year. Dispersed by wind and flowing water, the seeds germinate in about ten days. Planted shallowly in seed flats, 90% of the seed will come up, but they are cutworm favorites so take any necessary precautions. Seed retains its viability for over a year if stored under conditions of low humidity and temperature. Elms can also be propagated by leafy cuttings under mist, but seeds remain the easiest way.
Florida elms aren't hard to identify in the field provided you know what to look for. The ovate leaves, 2 to 5 inches long, are coarsely toothed and have the typical elm asymmetry: one side of the leaf is bigger then the other with the midvein being the dividing line: Leaf coloring in the fall in unimpressive, with the leaves turning a dull yellow before dropping to reveal the smooth, slender twigs The lateral twigs are very thin, about 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter, and form delicate patterns that only become apparent after the leaves take their brief vacation.
Dutch elm disease, the great bane of northern cities, is not a problem in Florida, although the Florida elm is susceptible to it. The disease's southern progress has halted in northern Georgia and has never reached this state. Elm bark beetles spread this fungal malady, but they can travel only short distances and may not be present in this state. In any case, the disease seems to rage only where elms form a large portion of the tree population, a condition we'll probably never see here. Otherwise, the tree has no major pest problems.
If you've read this far, you might be considering planting a Florida elm If so, you'll have to act fast as the short seeding season is nearly upon us and if you miss it, it's "wait until next year", or try to buy one from one of the few nurseries that carry them.
HAMMOCKS
by Daniel F. Austin
Since before 1905 when Francis Harper published a paper on hammocks in Science, botanists have been discussing the concept and origin of the word. Usually the ecological concept of a hammock is straight-forward - an island of trees within some other vegetation type. This physical vegetation type is so common in the tropics that several other languages have terms for it.
Tracing the origin of our word hammock , however, has not been easy because it has two mean i ngs and has been confused with a similar word Most dictionaries say that it is properly spelled " hummock," and that it is of English origin A state park at one time had a sign that said it was an "Indian" word and that it meant "a shady place." And so, about two decades ago, the argument went underground, rarely surfacing enough to let the average person know that there was even confusion.
When I came to Florida, over a decade ago, I started trying to ferret out the origin of the word because I wanted to know, and because I wish to give out correct information to my students. Little did I realize how complicated and fractionated were the opinions, theories, concepts, and actual documented histories. In case someone else may have been as confused as I was, I offer the following.
The word hammock came into the English language from two different sources, from two different directions, and almost certainly at two different times. Probably the most familiar to most people is the usage introduced into Europe by the West Indian expeditions of Christopher Columbus. These trips took back the Arawak Indian word hamaca, which later was rendered as hammock in English . This refers to the suspended cloth bed used widely in the West Indies, MesoAmerica, and South America. The European import took place in the first few decades of the 1500s, appearing first in Columbus' notes , and later in print by Oveido in 1527.
From the East a similar word was introduced into European languages. In Arabic and several of the related languages, the word hamada , or something very similar to that spelling, refers to an island or cluster of trees. I have been unable to pin down the actual date of transfer of this word into western Europe, but it may have been
A hammock in use in a thatched building in Brazil. In Portuguese these beds are called redes, which means a net. (Photo by D.F. Austin) around the time of Marco Polo in the 1200s. In English publications the word hammock, a variant of hamada, was printed first in the 1550s, and was considered specifically a nautical term. Thus, an island or mound of trees viewed on the skyline from a ship was called a hammock Except for a sea of sand instead of water, this is in complete agreement with the usage in Arabic.
Curiously, our modern English dictionaries contend that the correct word is hummock. I consider this curious, because the first published accounts spelled it hammock. Apparently linguists have concluded that hammock is an unintended variant of hummock, or at least.an archaic usage, and it is documented that hummock is an English word derived from Germanic sources.
With a little searching one may verify that there are two words spelled differently, with totally different meanings and origins in English , both hammock and hummock. A hummock is a mound of land; it may or may not have a hammock growing on its top. Ham-
mocks are almost always found on hummocks (elevated areas), but the words were independently derived So, hammocks may be hung in hammocks that grow on hummocks . People have also been trying to define, in ecological terms, the kinds of hammocks that occur in Florida. There appear to have developed two opposing schools of thought. Again, not surprisingly, they came from different directions.
The oldest ideas came from Bahamian and Cuban people living in the Florida Keys and nearby areas. These people, having seen truly tropical plant associations (i.e., between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn) , · realized the West Indian nature of hammocks in southern Florida. Their contention, and that of the scientific group that follows them, is that certain hammocks in southern Florida are tropical, and both floristically and structurally resemble forests (hammocks, copses, is/a de mata) that occur from the Bahamas and Cuba to Venezuela. Certain hammocks in Florida are West Indian Tropical Forests in all senses except that they grow on the mainland and outside the political limits of the tropics.
The other ideas developed with northern European/Americans mostly from temperate zones. These people contend that hammocks in southern Florida are nothing more than slight variants or phases of temperate forests. In Louisiana they might be called a chenier (oak forest), and would belong to the northern Florida temperate hammock type This school of thought says that southern Florida hammocks with a predominance of tropical plants are nothing more than a slightly different form of the .temperate hammock. Thus, tropical hammock (the term used in southern Florida) is considered · inaccurate, and has been changed to tropical or subtropical variants of temperate hammock.
These are the problems and origins to date. We can trace back most of the origins of the words because the time depth is comparatively shallow. Tracing the origins of the floras, and application of the words used to describe them is more difficult and open to more opinion. My opinion on the tropical vs. temperate tack is clear in this discussion and elsewhere. I invite comparison of our tropical hammocks to Semi-deciduous Tropical Forests anywhere in the West Indies. A visit to the Bahamian or Yucatecan or Venezuelan forests, or anywhere in between, should settle the problem in anyone's mind
A tropical hammock surrounded by prairie and dwarf mangroves in Everglades National Park. (Photo by D F Austin)
GARBE RIA
by Eve A. Hannahs
Garberia fruticosa syn. G. heterophylla of the Asteraceae apparently has no common name. The handsome shrub is classified as threatened on the Florida Endangered Plant List. Threatened because of loss of habitat which is scrub and coastal dunes in central and northern peninsular Florida.
The much-branched shrub sometimes reaches three or more feet. Evergreen spatulate leaves are downy; rose-purple flowers are found in dense, flat-topped clusters on the ter-
minals: brown pappus persists in winter. The fall blooming plant is frequented by butterflies for nectaring. In early November ten butterfly species were counted on one individual plant. Seeds collected in late fall and early winter germinated seemingly 100% when scrub sand was used. Germination was poor in potting mix, and survivors turned yellow when reaching 3-4 inches. Seeds were barely covered with sand, kept moist, and covered with newspaper until germination. Plants had an excellent survival rate and at ten months are 8 inches tall. (I do not know the additional growth rate or the age of bloom-producing plants, as my experience is limited to last year's plantings.)
Garberia is often found at the edges of woods in a sand pine situation. When swales are "improved" and sodded the plant is lost. Rescue has proven unsuccessful because of the usual deep roots of plants in sandy habitats.
In early November many plants were observed growing near fences (out of the reach of mowing machines) on 1-4 east of Orlando and on the sand hills of rural Flagler County roadsides. Apparently it has wide distribution in its chosen areas. It is also salt resistant.
Garberia is a valued addition to the native plant garden and, as it is easily propagated, it should be available to those with the proper habitat.
CONSERVANCY NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
The Nature Conservancy, an organization which protects conservation lands, is looking for a few good botanists.
The Conservancy's Winter Park office needs volunteers to field check property for possible acquisition. The resulting land descriptions will aid in evaluating potential Conservancy projects.
The Nature Conservancy is a nationa I nonprofit conservation organization devoted to finding, protecting, and managing the best examples of the most threatened ecological systems and the diversity of life dependent on them. Since 1951 the organization has preserved 1.9 million acres in 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America. There are 151,000 Conservancy members, almost 7,000 in Florida.
The Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy receives many requests that require evaluation of land. There
are more requests than people to hand le them, yet almost all deserve a response.
Volunteers will review the Conservancy's land preservation techniques and Florida Natural Areas Inventory classification categories (there are 40 natural community categories alone for Terrestrial and Palustrine habitats) at workshop sessions. Each volunteer probably would be asked to participate in no more than two evaluations per year.
Please write The Nature Conservancy, 1331 Palmetto Ave., Suite 205, Winter Park, 32789, if you would like to be a volunteer or a volunteer coordinator. Briefly summarize any appropriate background. Experience in botany, or knowledge of Florida's natural community types are preferred but not required. If you're interested, we'll find a way for you to help.
James McKinley, The Nature Conservancy
A BACKYARD NOTEBOOK
A Brief Summary of Personal Experimentation with Natives as Backyard Plants (Second in a Series) by Doris
Rosebraugh
Drawing for Naples Chapter note cards (½ size)
DAHOON HOLLY (llex Cassine)
West and Arnold list mature height at 40 ft. Joyce Gann's Native Tree List places it in the medium/small category. My own experience with older specimens have verified this information. The growth rate is moderately fast and - with pushing - could be fast. Two specimens planted on my property in Nov. 1979, topping out at about 7' and in lerio containers, are now double in height, spread, and trunk caliper. The soil they are in is marl to about 2 to 2 1/2 feet over the more usual oolite foundation. The planting holes were backfilled with existing soil enriched with Osmocote (14-14-14) and peat moss. They have spurted up and out.
The female produced a large crop of berries last year and in July of 1982 had another crop. These berries will hold and offer a nice show of color through the winter months (if the mockingbirds and catbirds don't eat them all).
After the initial "extra-care" period in 1980 when ample water was supplied, they were allowed to go on their own with supplemental water only during long dry periods. One is mulched with shredded cypress and leaf fall, while the other (female) is in lawn area, and there is no appreciable difference in their growth.
For design uses, I recommend a grouping of three: two females and a male for cross pollination. As their nature is not spreading, they would be nice townhouse garden trees and accent trees for entry areas.
FLORIDA NATURAL AREAS INVENTORY ----
by Linda Duever
The Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) has developed a list of natural community types to be used in identifying and surveying Florida habitats and it is encouraging others to adopt this classification so that it will become standard statewide.
A significant feature of this new system is that the natural communities are distinguished on the basis of environ mental differences (soils, hydroperiods, physiographic setting etc.) rather than by vegetation. FNAI is now preparing the first draft of a supp I em e nta ry plant community classification for use in managing information about the vegetation types that grow within each of these environments. (This will actually be an
ongoing effort, with plant communities constantly being added as "new" species associations are confirmed through literature searches and field work.)
Hence the natural community refers to the kind of place suitable for a certain set of vegetation types, and the plant community represents the range of successional stages and variations which might occur on that type of site.
The practical value of this dual system is that the natural community level can be used to roughly differentiate and inventory habitats where conservation demands information now but existing data is limited, while the plant community level provides a mechanism for organizing more detailed botanical information as it becomes available. Because this classification system
MORE ON SPANISH MOSS
I have noticed several trees of late that I feel sure were killed by the recurvata. The recurvata has taken over since the usneoides died out a few years ago. The recurvata needed more light which it now has by the absence of usneoides.
My Father, Mulford B. Foster, discovered that when the seeds of usneoides germinate, the new seedlings have roots which later die as the plant gets larger; from that point on it continues to grow without roots. The article he wrote about it was titled "Scientific Fact Uprooted" published in Bromeliad Bulletin, Volume I, July/August, 1981, #4.
by Bert T. Foster
In reference to the article on "Spanish Moss" in the November 1982 issue of the Palmetto, I would like to add a few additional points of interest and an opinion or two.
Tillandsia usneoides was named for a famous Swedish botanist by the name of Tilland who never saw the plant.
'usne' - is a lichen that hangs from the trees in the State of Washington as well as other states.
'oides' - means resembling. Thus 'Tillandsia usneoides'.
While it is true that Spanish moss does not kill trees as stated in the November issue, I am sure that ball moss (Til/andsia recurvata) does contribute to the demise of many live oak trees by growing so thick that the tree is literally choked to death by restricting the new growth.
Pollution has been blamed for killing great quantities of Spanish moss several years ago, but I am of the opinion that it was a virus.
Another means of harvesting Spanish moss other than the one mentioned in the article was to hang the Spanish moss on long racks and then kill it with live steam. After the gray exterior dropped off, the black fiber was then sold by the pound for use in car seats, etc.
Spanish moss has a fragrant, light green flower. The flower starts to open between 4-6 in the afternoon and blooms during the night.
Last of all, according to a conversation I had with Dr. Lyman Smith, I believe he told me (hope I am not getting in trouble on this point) that Tillandsia usneoides is one of the most sophisticated and youngest of the bromeliads.
represents a statewide synthesis of many regional ecosystem categorizations, and local terminology differs considerably from one part of the state to another, FNAI has prepared precise capsule definitions for each natural community. These definitions, which are available from FNAI, The Nature Conservancy, 254 East Sixth Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida 32303, specify physiographic, hydrological, and climatic characteristics and describe substrates, fire regimes, and typical vegetation.
Since ambiguous and inconsistent use of habitat terminology has been a major obstacle to the identification and preservation of Florida's endangered ecosystems, Florida Native Plant Society members should become familiar with these definitions
THE EVERGLADES
A one-day symposium on one of the nation's most important and fascinating natural systems, the Everglades, will be held at Rollins College in Winter Park, on Friday, March 25. The speakers, representing a variety of backgrounds, will discuss the Everglades' natural features, human activities that have altered the functions of this ecosystem, and solutions that have been proposed for protecting or restoring the life-supporting ability of the Everglades.
Speakers to be featured, at this time, include:
• Marjory Stoneman Douglas, author and lecturer
• Dr. James Kushlan, Research Biologist, South Florida Research Center
• John R. Maloy, Executive Director, South Florida Water Management District
• Arthur R. Marshall, ecologist and consultant
• Jack Morehead, Superintendent, Everglades National Park
• Garald G. Parker, hydrogeologist and President of Parker and Associates
A registration fee of $8.00 per person, which includes lunch and materials, will be charged up through March 16, and $10.00 per person after that date. Checks should be made payable to Rollins College and mailed to Rollins College, Box 2593, Winter Park, FL 32789. For information on the program, call 305/644-5377.
--- NATURAL COMMUN ITY CLASSIFICATION
and learn to use the community names correctly. Certainly, regional and disciplinary differences in the customary language will make some names seem awkward at first - and discerning field naturalists will immediately visualize a multitude or transitions and exceptions and be a bit bothered at the artificiality of cramming nature into such neat mental constructs. But, the advantages of having standard names and type localities for communities, as we do for species, should more than compensate for this discomfort. To make the sort of distinction between casual and precise usage we do when writing "magnolia" vs. "Magnolia grandiflora", FNAI suggests capitalizing community names only when they are used strictly according to FNAI definitions and in
reference to a site where the community type has been confirmed by a reliable field survey.
To make it easier to understand, The Palmetto will present a series of articles describing groups of related natural communities and the associated plant communities. Scrub, Sandhill, and Xeric Hammock will be discussed in the next issue.
GLOSSARY
hydroper iods: physiograph ic: hydrological :
substrates:
fire regimes: terrestrial :
Terrestrial Communities: Scrub, Sandhill, Xeric Hammock, Upland Pi ne Forest, Upland Mixed Forest, Upland Hardwood Forest, Slope Forest, Mesic Flatwoods, Scrubby Flatwoods , Pine Rockland, Rockland Hammock, Dry Prairie , Prairie Hammock, Sinkhole, Beach Dune, Coastal Strand , Maritime Hammock, Overwash Plain, Coastal Berm Coastal Rock Barren, Shell Mound
_
the cycling of the wet periods pertaining to physical geography concerning the occurrence and circulation of the waters of the earth and atmosphere the solid mater ial upon which an organism lives or is attached the frequency of occurrence of fire pertaining to or growing on the land, not in water nor i n air
by Joe Cascio
JJoyce Gann, grower, and Joe Cascio, designer, collaborated last April on a large show garden built of natives, at the 31st Annual Metropolitan Miami Flower Show, the southeast's largest juried flower show. It was a minor triumph
Joyce is convinced that the garden they did was unique to South Florida, and would herald a whole new trend in design and the use of native plant materials.
Joe said it was really no different than any other residential garden he had done, except for the plants, of course, most of which he had never seen before and knew nothing about.
Joyce explained to Joe that since people began settling in South Florida, the only plants available from nurseries have been exotics. In recent years , since native plants have been propagated, their major use has been to reconstruct natural associations
But Joe came along, in his ignorance of the local bbiomes, and used the plants according to basic design pr i nciples laid down by Brown, Repton and Kemp, Hubbard and Kimball, and others whose gardens and books are studied on the path to professionalism.
Joyce is sure that the resulting garden was important
CONOCARPUS ERETUS greenbuttonwood
EUGENIA CONFUSA stopper
HAMELIAPATENS firebush
HELIANTHUS DEBILIS \::,eacl\_ sunflower
I POMOEAPES-CAPRAE railroad vine
DEPRESSA yellow lantana
LANTANA MONTEVIDENSISl avendar trailing lantana LYCIUM CAROLINIANUM chr is
VIRGINIANA sweetbay magnolia
FRAGRANSSIMPSON Simpsonstopper
MINUTES
The annual meeting of the Florida Native Plant Society was held at The Plantation Inn in Crystal River on Nov. 13, 1983.
The minutes of the July 10, 1982, board meeting, as published in The Palmetto, were amended to add the following to the paragraph on conference delegates: "Amendment was offered by Terry Mock to exclude the number of discounts for conference delegates."
Amendments to Bylaws, Articles Ill and IV were suggested by Linda Duever, Chairperson of the Nominating Committee. However, no action was taken because amendments require previous board approval and written notice to the general membership.
Officers and directors were not elected because the nominating committee urged the creation of a new "executive vice president" or "executive director" position, which would require a change in the by-laws.
A motion to amend Articles Ill and IV, and to publish the amendments in The Palmetto, was carried.
A motion to elect 1983 officers and directors at the 1983 Spring Conference and to extend current terms until then was made and carried.
Bill Partington then appointed the following by-laws committee: Margaret Hames, chairperson, Joyce Gann, Hester Wagner, and Dan Ward.
Two new committees were approved: Landscape, Joe Cascio, chairperson. Horticulture (formerly propagation): John Pepenoe, chairperson.
Chairpersons are needed for three standing committees: Education, Conservation, and Finance.
The Nominating Committee report was tabled.
The Publications Committee reported that FNPS will have the option to distribute Florida Wildflowers and Roadside Plants by Bell and Taylor after publication.
A motion was made that the Conservation Committee take action against the Port Bougainville project in Key Largo. Three local chapters have already publicly opposed the project. The motion was carried.
The Florida Native Plant Marketing and Information Service was explained by Terry Mock, since its president, Fred Landrum, was unable to attend. An outline of their proposition was distributed and the following changes were suggested: to change the amount to be contributed to FNPS from "5% annual income" to "5% total adjusted
gross income," the maximum· legal deduction. And to reword the paragraph regarding FNPM&l's exclusive right to FNPS's endorsements and referrals, to make clear that FNPS will not be so bound. A further amendment authorized a thorough legal review before entering into any covenant. The motion as amended was carried with 14 for, 3 against, and 13 abstaining.
With two excellent proposals for the Spring Conference, the cities were put in alphabetical order, with the 1983 Conference to be in Naples and the 1984 Conference to be in West Palm Beach. Tentative dates were set for April 22, 23, and 24. Carol Lotspeich proposed that FN PS sponsor a technical symposium where scientists can publish original research on native plants. Bijan Dehgan, who was not in attendance, submitted suggestions for publishing the proceedings in The Palmetto, in a separate volume, or in Horticulture Society Journal. The suggestion that they be published in The Palmetto was accepted.
Writer and editor Dan Mackey again asked for help in preparing a book on landscaping with native plants, but the members thought it could be done under the sole auspices of FNPS, preferably by the Horticulture and Landscape Committees.
Jim McKinley from the Nature Conservancy requested help from FNPS members in evaluating natural areas being offered to The Conservancy.
Ann Williams suggested that FNPS petition Gov. Bob Graham to declare the opening day of the 1983 Spring -Conference as Native Plant Day. Motion carried.
FNPS board meeting will be held Sat., Feb. 12, 1983, in Naples.
Dorie Karl, secretary
BY-LAW REVISION
The FNPS By-laws Revision Committee met Jan. 29 and has completed its revisions which will be available at the Feb. i 2 Board of Directors meeting and at the Members meeting in Naples on April 23.
TIVE · PLA
CHAPTER NEWS
SOUTH BREVARD CHAPTER
We left the Lori Wilson beach hammock in a cliff-hanging position at the end of the last report. Since then, with some help from our county forester, we've had healthy communication with the appropriate planners. The County Development Co-ordinator reviewed Margaret Hames's vegetation list and realized that many of the plants are recommended for special protection in the county's Comprehensive Plan. He has been refreshingly co-operative.
Erna Nixon Park and Hammock: FNPS member Bonnie Arbuckle teaches a training course for guides on a regular basis. Several members who live close to the hammock have dedicated pure hard work to removing the exotics, especially potato vine, Brazilian pepper and melaleuca. Our December tour was a "check-up" walk in the hammock.
Our January tour was so dazzling that it is reported in detail elsewhere: Sunday, Jan. 9, 40 of us spent the day at the Seminole Ranch.
Future plans include another beach tour, the Merritt Island Oak Hammock, and a "goody" in March that Central Florida members may want to enjoy: a landowner south of Holopaw has agreed to a tour. This area is rich in wildlife as well as plant life. Our plans aren't set yet, so if you are interested in joining us, give us a call sometime in February for details. Hester Wagner at 305/723-3219 or Marcy Bartlett at 305/725-4555.
NAPLES
The Naples Chapter is now putting out a newsletter, too, to notify members of coming events. The newsletter indicates that the Chapter is now one year old, and that they are proud to have been chosen as the host for the FNPS Annual Conference in April.
The Chapter has paid back the $400 loan they received from FNPS for the printing of their native plant notepaper, and sales are still going well.
Their activities in January included an FNPS exhibit at the Collier County Fair, their annual meeting and election of officers, and a field trip to Collier Seminole State Park led by Linda Weinland, Professor of Biology at
Edison Community College.
In February, Dorie Karl and Gary Patterson will present a program for the Audubon Natural History group on The Pinelands of South Florida, and The Endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, Bird of the Pinelands. The Chapter meeting will include a panel discussion with Dr. Mark Benedict, County Environmentalist, and others on the Implementation of the Collier County Exotic Pest Plant Ordinance.
DADE
The Dade County newsletter has a new logo, but apparently the final choice for the art work is yet to be decided: the design must include pine tree bark and a cardinal air plant.
Committees with committee chairpersons include Landscape, Joe Cascio; Horticulture, Rob Campbell; Conservation, Lis Britt; Wetlands, Marty Roessler; Ways and Means, Marty Roessler; Publications, Laura Brinkley; Conference, Jon Foote and Priscilla Forthman.
Programs coming up include a Dade County Forester telling what an Urban Forester does, and a talk about what a club historian does. Field trips will be planned and led by each committee and will relate to the committee's area of interest: the Landscape Committee is planning a trip that will show a good example of a landscape design using natives; the Horticulture Committee will lead a trip to native nurseries in south Dade.
CENTRAL FLORIDA
First things first: the next meeting of the Chapter will be Feb. 26, 10 A.M., at the Orange County Agricultural Center on Michigan and Bumby. The program will be "Landscaping with Native Plants" with Carol Lotspeich, Environmental Consultant. All interested people are invited.
Alyene Hays, President, and Sam Hopkins, Vice -president, met last fall at the Seminole County Environmental Center with Pat Burkette of the Center and Environmental Specialist Leo Manasian Jr. of Dept. of Natural Resources. They photographed and collected specimens around the
Center. Chapter members will be identifying, mounting, and labeling them.
The members were led on a hike through the area by Pat Burkette and Sam Hopkins for their Nov. meeting Euonymous (strawberry bush) in full fruit was one of many observations.
In January, Carol Lotspeich demonstrated how to collect, press, dry, and mount plant specimens. The Seminole County Environmental Center has a "hands on" herbarium for study by school children, and the collected specimens were placed in the herbarium.
Several members spent a day in Merritt Island laying a nature trail.
SEMINOLE RANCH
On Rt. 46, approximately four miles west of 1-95, the Seminole Ranch Recreation Area offers roughly 30 miles of walking trails. Forty of us enjoyed the day there January 9. The Audubon people in the group noted white pelicans (a large flock), a bald eagle, sparrow hawks, kingfishers, and one doe. There were probably others that I didn't catch.
The delay of our first cold snap had led a lot of over-enthusiastic plants to bloom. We found everything from southern red cedar to two colors of violets blooming. Soda apples decorated one trail like leftover Christmas bulbs. It was on that same trail we found a peculiar little grass that Bob Vaughan (of Brevard Nursery) is propagating. He tells us it's actually a member of the cedar family. A patch of crotolaria provided a family picnic area for the colorful Bella moth; adults flashed between plants and larvae feasted on the foliage.
We listed some truly lovely trees. Magnolia grandiflora, mature wild olive, Cornus foemina, persimmon, guava, a coastal plain willow in bloom and lots of the Lyonias. Flowering herbs included crownbeard, Lobelia, false garlic, toadflax, Helianthemum, yellow bachelor's button, floridana and lanceolata violets, several others that have become unreadable in my pencilled notes, and my dear friend
February 1983, PALMETTO, Page 9 Eryngium baldwinii. This little blue jewel thrives in my back yard. Not having any botanical texts or training, all I could do was draw it and pester everyone I knew for a name for it. Margaret Hames found it for me. It gives great pleasure to tell you that this creeping beauty did a reasonable job of choking out sandspurs in our back yard!
We capped the last part of the hike by taking slides of a champion thistle plant. It wasn't blooming, but it should be easy enough to find when it does. This giant spread out nearly 3 feet across and stood at least 2 feet high in a tight cluster of leaves. My trophies of the tour include part of a leaf from this monster (classic sense of the term, please!) and two furry black caterpillars. The little beasts were feeding on dog fennel. When they complete their metamorphosis, I'll nominate them to the FNPS Hall of Heroes.
We had some new residents along, and it was a superb chance to educate them and get them "hooked" on native plants.
The Seminole Ranch was an exhilarating walk. Definitely recommended.
Marcy R. Bartlett
FNPMIS
The Florida Native Plant Society is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and restoration of Florida's native plant communities.
The Florida Native Plant Marketing & Information Services is dedicated to developing the native plant industry by providing the vital network of services to meet demands for native plant materials and information.
The organization represents a statewide network of native plant growers and those that deal in related professional services (such as landscape architects and des igners, landscape contractors, botanists, liorticulturists, and other consultants).
Contact us for your plant needs. Let's grow native together.
Florida Native Plant Marketing and Information Service P O Box 1748, Jupiter, Florida 33458
Telephone: 305/546-7667
BOOK REVIEWS
WHO KNOWS THE RAIN? Nature and Origin of Rainfall in South Florida. Leonard Pardue, Jessie Freeling, Leonard J. Greenfield and Patrick T. Gannon. Foreword by Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Friends of the Everglades, 3744 Stewart Avenue, Coconut Grove, FL 33133. 1982. $3.50.
Rainfall is the sole source of water in south Florida. Those of us who live in south Florida wonder each year if the rainy season will arrive in time to avert water rationing. It is especially critical for those of us who make our living in the nursery and landscape trades.
And, as anyone who has studied plant communities is aware, the water regime is one of the major factors determining which community will exist in a given place. Changes in the water regime will lead to successional changes in the plant community. Abrupt, ill-considered changes made by people will cause major instability and usually unwelcome changes in the plant assemblage. Those acquainted with the wetlands communities of south Florida, particularly the Everglades and the Big Cypress, know that these systems are severely stressed by drainage and patchwork water management systems.
This small book by a distinguished group of scientists was written to explain the rainfall system of south Florida (a unit including the Kissimmee drainage basin and all land south of the Caloosahatchee and the St. Lucie Canal). The discussions are within the context of general hydrological theory, which allows a much better understanding than a mere description of the specific case, which is typical of most books written for laymen. Maps, graphs, and diagrams are included, and superb chapter summaries eliminate the need for notetaking or searching for a preceding passage.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas commissioned this book to present the reasons why there is a movement urging restoration of the original water regime in what remains of the Everglades and Big Cypress as the only feasible means of assuring both the survival of existing parks and refuges and a continuing water supply for the developed areas of south Florida.
• Laura Brinkley
FLORIDA WILD FLOWERS AND ROADSIDE PLANTS.
By C. Ritchie Bell and Bryan J. Taylor. Laurel Hill Press, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1982. xxi+ 308p. $18.50.
For years I have kept an eye peeled for a comprehensive book on the flora of Florida. Florida Wild Flowers and Roadside Plants is a selection of 500 color plates, with descriptions, of native and naturalized plants found throughout Florida. An outstanding advance toward filling the gaps on the flora of Florida, and commendable effort by the authors: Richie Bell, a botanist from North Carolina and Bryan Taylor, photographer, naturalist and native Floridian.
The introduction is sufficiently detailed without becoming herculean. It quickly reviews Florida's floristic history, nomenclature, habitats, geographic distribution, and a guide on how to use the key character summary code.
The text illustrates 500 species representing 137 plant families. An additional 215 species are mentioned; thus approximately one fifth of Florida's estimated 3,500 native and naturalized plant species are included. Common names as well as scientific names are given for each species along with an often breathtaking photograph, a straightforward and informative text, and a key character summary code. The code is a noteworthy feature packed with additional information on plant habit, leaf and flower characteristics, further references, season of bloom, and distribution in Florida. Use of the code will require reviewing the introduction and referring to the inside and back covers where the code is illustrated.
To make the field guide as useful as possible to all who might be interested in Florida's varied plant life, easy to use identification keys based on easily observed plant characteristics are included. A better-than-average glossary is provided covering all botanical terms found in the text.
Outstanding merits of the book include its portable size (6" x 9"), excellent color reproduction, fine balance of text and photographs, the key character codes, cross referencing the glossary with examples in the text, identification keys that can be used without the aid of hand lens or microscope and the inclusion of · representative plants from all of Florida.
I, personally, do not care for an index that lists items by entry number rather than page number, which this
book does. The fact that the authors are not Florida residents is sometimes recognized in their choice of common names and representative species, such as red cedar instead of the more widely distributed Florida species, southern red cedar (Juniperus silicicofa), and their indications of frequency of occurence. The authors list loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus) as infrequent when, in reality, it is a very common species throughout Florida. An effort is made to list additional species that occur in Florida of a represented genus; however, this is often incomplete and sometimes nonexistent, which could be misleading to the lay person.
The problems mentioned above detract little from the overall high quality of the book. Florida Wild Flowers and Roadside Plants is a beautiful cocktail table addition and valuable resource in the library. It will doubtless proceed through edition after edition, each more comprehensive than the last. Carol S. Lotspeich (Florida Wildflowers and Roadside Plants will be available for purchase at the FNPS Conference in Naples, April 22 - 24 for $17.50. It can also be purchased from FNPS, 935 Orange Ave., Winter Park 32789 for $18.50 which includes postage.)
The Biology of Trees Native to Tropical Florida, P.B. Tomlinson. pp. v + 480 (including 166 pages of blackand-white illustrations by Priscilla Fawcett
The flora of South Florida is, in part, an extension of the rich tropical flora of the adjacent Caribbean and Bahamas. Tropical forest vegetation is represented by mangrove swamps, rain forest in the form of "hammock" communities, and a distinctive kind of pineland.
This tree flora produces one of the most distinctive tree regions of the continental United States, but has never received any extensive biological description. This book aims to remedy this deficiency and describes these native and a number of common introduced trees, largely by extensive illustration, emphasizing dynamic features of growth, reproduction and dispersal.
(P.B.. Tomlinson is Professor of Botany at Harvard University ) $22.50 per copy, postpaid, from the author, Harvard Forest, Petersham, Massachusets 01366. Also available at Fairchild Tropical Garden Bookstore, and in quantities at discount.
Dear Editor:
LETTERS
Thank you for giving Asimina a place i n The Palmetto. Twenty years ago it was a common plant in southeast Florida, but is now reduced to a few individuals in the precarious position of grow i ng on undeveloped properties When it is lost, another native will vanish from the landscape as its foliage is the sole larval food of one of our most outstanding butterflies, the Zebra Swallowtail.
Eve A . Hannahs
Dear Editor :
I am very much interested in Joe Cascio's proposal for safeguarding Florida's remaining tree monarchs (Nov. '82 Palmetto) and would like to learn what I can do in my own locality. Our county has a tree ordinance, which provides only limited protection. Could you send me a list of Pasco County members of FNPS so we could possibly plan such a program?
(Miss) Ella F. Gay
GLOSSARY
spatulate pappus : ciliate ·
Greetings from Paradise Lost:
I forgot to write soon enough so you could announce the Florida Arbor Day January 16th date.
So pleased over the Naples FN PS note cards.
I do hope you'll do a Butterfly Gardening article soon
I'm a vegetarian . Is there a Florida Vegetarian Society?
We need a Healing Plants column. Black folks long ago used Spanish moss for healing. [Included in the letter was a clipping on Spanish moss : "Uses : Invigorating bath - place the green moss in water and bathe as normal. High blood pressure-brew water and moss and drink. Sprains - either wrap around sprains alone or mix with clay and vinegar."]
[Included also was a clipping on the 1983 Wild Flower calendar put out by the Natural Resources Defense Council, 122 East 42nd St., New York, N.Y 10017 . Fourteen wild flower photographs. $5.50 ]
Marvyne
Betsch, The Beach Lady
spatula-shaped: broad, rounded end and narrow base ovate: corolla: a tuft of delicate hairs or bristles on seeds , like dandelions having minute hairs along a margin. forming a fringe oval-shaped the petals of a flower, collectively
February 1983, PALMETTO, Page 11
AUTHORS AND ARTISTS
Melanie Darst is a botanical artist working with R K Godfrey with the sponsorship of Tall Timbers Research Station She is also part owner of Bullbay Creek Farms, a native plant nursery in Tallahassee specializing in wax myrtle, ground covers, and ferns "We are very proud of our ferns, and are currently growing eleven different natives , includ i ng maidenhair, Christmas fern , leatherwood, royal, cinnamon, lady, small chain, and others."
Daniel F Austin is a Professor in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton
Steve Farnsworth is president of the Palm Beach Chapter of FNPS, and owner of Farnsworth Farms, a native plant nursery.
Bert Foster is a landscape architect in Orlando
Doris Rosebraugh is a landscape designer and member of Dade Chapter o f FNPS.
Eve A Hannahs is Butterfly Conservation Chairperson and Endangered Species Chairperson of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, and she represents them on The Endangered Plant Advisory Council for the State of Florida
Carol S Lotspeich is president of Lotspeich and Assoc i ates, Inc ., an environmental consuiting firm She is also one of the founders of FNPS.
Laura Brinkley is a consulting ecologist and landscaper, a member of Art Marshall's Committee on Ecology, member of the Board of Directors of Tropical Audubon Society, and member of the publications committee of the Dade Chapter of FNPS.
Mitzi Tremmel is a programmer analyst for Florida Savings and Loan in Orlando Drawing is a hobby, but Mitzi says it's going well.
or organizational members may be granted permission to use the FNPS logo in their promotional literature, but must have written notification of this permission
GREEN CAY NURSERY
BOX 300 • ROUTE #1 • BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA 33437 Hagen Ranch Road EDUCATIONAL NOTECARDS featuring: FLORIDA'S NATIVE PLANTS - I
HOURS: (305) 499 -0569
Native Trees 10 ' & up - Balled & Burlapped Ball
Acacia, Sweet Fig, Strangler
Sycamore
Dogwood , Jamaican Gumbo Limbo
Tamarind , Wild Oak , Live Soap berry Cork, Florida Mastic
Paradise Tree Oak , Laurel Buttonwood , Green Mahogany
Illustrated by Dorie Karl
Set of 10 ca rd s, 2 of each deign , and 10 enve lopes in an attractiv e p lasti c wal le t. Info rmation o n id en tifi ca tion , habitat and propagation on th e back of each card
$3.50 per set
(D i scoun ts available to FNPS Chapters) ORDER FORM
Please pr int your name and addre ss be low : Name _ Addres s ____________
Please send me ___ set(s). Include $3.50 per set and 75¢ for po stage and handling on or der s of five sets or le ss.
Ma ke check or money orde r payable to and mail to: Th e Na ple s Chap ter of The Florida Native Pl ant Society 18 4 Hickory Road Naples , FL 33940