Botanical Adventure: The Florida Scrub

A few weeks back I had the privilege to spend a week surveying plants in the Florida Scrub. If you’re a nature lover you should really have the Florida Scrub on your bucket list. The Florida Scrub is a globably endangered habitat characterize by xeromorphic plant communities dominated by small trees, shrubs and dwarf oak species. Approximately 38 species of vascular plants are endemic, or only found, in the Florid Scrub. Let me reiterate that…38 species of plants are found nowhere else on the face of the plant aside the Florid Scrub! That is astonishing. I’m not going to get into the details of what the Florida Scrub is in this post, but if you’re interested in learning more see Floridata’s post about the scrub: http://www.floridata.com/tracks/scrub/floridascrub.cfm

As a botanist I find it rejuvenating and exciting to travel to places with plants I have never seen before. Increasingly, I have to travel farther and farther to see new species. This trip to Florida was an exceptional trip in that regard, as I constantly had to stop and examine the botanical diversity of this amazing landscape. I was constantly stopping to see new species of trees, shrubs, and stunning flowering plants. I took hundreds of photos, literally. I’ve put a small handful of the more interesting plants I encountered. Nearly all of these are endemic to the Scrub. 

Scrub Blazing Star (Liatris ohlingerae (S.F. Blake) B.L. Rob.)

Of all the plants I saw in Florida this is probably the most spectacularly beautiful. Liatris ohlingerae is known from only 3 counties in the world yet is so frequent in the high quality scrub of the Lake Wales Ridge that it has a G-rank of G3! Think of that a minute. A three county endemic that is a G3.

 When I first saw this I thought it was either a Liatris of unparalleled beauty and odd morphology or another closely related genus. It turns out I wasn’t that far off thinking it might be a different genus. The great southeastern botanist, J.K. Small put this in the genus Ammopursus, which is now accepted as a member of Liatris.

This picture is not very good. I'm frankly embarrassed by it, but I had no idea the significance of this until I got home that evening. 

Manatee Beaksedge (Rhynchospora megaplumosa Bridges & Orzell)

I love sedges! Of all the sedge genera in the world Rhynchospora is probably my favorite. And of all the Rhynchospora, R. megaplumosa might just be my most favorite. Rhynchospora megaplumosa is only known from 4 counties in the world, all from peninsular Florida. This plant is very striking, even for a Rhynchospora. The bristles of the seeds are so long they stick out well beyond the floral scales.  Just wicked.

I have been fortunate enough to see this Rhynchospora  in three different locations. At the type locality (the place where it was described as new to science) this plant is abundant and can be found in the thousands! It is amazing to think this plant, so common at some sites, was not described as a species until the year 2000.

R. megaplumosa can be common in certain Scrub micro-habitats.

Seeds of R. megaplumosa (top) and the closely related R. intermedia, another Florida endemic (bottom)

Florida Alicia (Chapmannia floridana Torr. & A. Gray)

This member of the Bean Family (Fabaceae) is very distinct from other members as it is a very tall, erect plant with yellow flowers, and densely beset with glandular trichomes. It is named after famed southeastern botanist A.W. Chapmam, a pioneer in Florida botany and named by some of his contemporaries  J. Torrey and Asa Gray (the father of North American Botany). This plant is another endemic to Florida that is so common it isn’t tracked or listed as a rare species.

Pineland Butterfly Pea (Centrosema aeronicola (Small) F.J. Herm.)

The Bean Family (Fabaceae) is a difficult one. I’ve gone around a couple of times between some of the more closely related genera, and settled on Centrosema aeronicola. This beautiful trailing pea is a plant I have not seen before as it is yet another Florida endemic. Centrosema aeronicola known from ca. 20 counties.

Big Flower Pawpaw (Asimina obovata (Willd.) Nash)

This was one of those plants that made me really take a step back (both physically and mentally). Sometimes our concept of a plant genus or family is tainted by where we live.  In most of the southeastern US, Asimina has small purple flowers, the leaves are deciduous and thin. This Asimina was NOTHING LIKE THAT! The leaves were amazingly think and coriaceous. The only reason I knew this was a Asimina was because of the fruits, which I was lucky enough to see. Florida has an amazing diversity with 10 species of Asimina. This species is a peninsular Florida endemic known from ca. 18 counties. This species has fruits that are densely glaucous (covered by a waxy coating). The photo below might look upside down, but it isn’t. The fruits are so heavy the cause the branches to droop. Simply amazing.

Scrub Hickory (Carya floridana Sargent):

The Scrub Hickory is a medium sized shrubby tree that is very common in the Scrub habitat and known from approximately 17 counties in the world. When I first encountered this hickory I didn’t know such a think as the Scrub Hickory existed, but knew it was a hickory I had never seen before. In gross morphology and habit it struck me a similar to the Sand Hickory (Carya pallida (Ashe) Engl. & Graebn.).

Scrub Oak (Quercus inopina Ashe)

The scrub has a number of Oak species that have small obtuse leaves. This is one of the more common species in that group that I encountered in the scrub, the Scrub Oak. The small shrubby oak is a fire loving stump sprouter, an excellent adaptation to fire. I believe I saw 4 new oak species to me, all of which are endemic to Florida. The Scrub oak is known from ca. 14 counties in the world.

Scrub Wild Olive (Cartrema floridana (Chapm.) G.L. Nesom)

                                  (= Osmanthus americana var. megacarpus)

When I encountered this small shrub in the Lake Wales Scrub it took me quite a while to figure out what it was. Once I did, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Cartrema is a small genus and I have seen C. americana numerous times in the southeast, but this species has massive fruits, nearly twice as large as the typical. Cartrema floridana is an endemic to ca. 15 counties of peninsular Florida

Scrub Holly (lex arenicola Ashe)

I encountered this plant on day three of my Florida journey, and by that time I had a good feel for the scrub flora having seen many of these species numerous times. This holy however stopped me in my tracks. This Holy looked very similar to the typical American Holy (Ilex opaca Aiton), but the leaves were strongly involute. I have never seen anything like this in my travels. I have seen Ilex opaca growing in hundreds of locations in my life with habitats ranging from hydric to xeric, but I have never noted a leaf morphology similar to this. I suspect the morphologic differences of this Ilex are rooted in genetics and not an artifact of ecology. This plant is known from approximately 13 counties of central-peninsular Florida.

Yellow Milkwort (Polygala rugelii Shuttlew. ex Chapm.)

I really enjoy the genus Polygala. In Maryland, where I live, the pretties Polygala we get is P. lutea L.. Polygala lutea doesn’t hold a flame to P. rugelii! Polygala rugelii is much taller, with larger flowering heads and brilliantly yellow flowers. This is another plant that is endemic to Florida but so common here it isn’t considered rare. As you can see in the second picture, this plant is quite common in areas. 

Tarflower (Bejaria racemosa Vent.)

This might be my new favorite plant in the Heath Family (Ericaceae). In the scrub this plant was common and seemingly loved recently burned habitats. It is common in Florida, the only state where it isn’t listed as a rare species. When I first encountered this plant I didn’t know it was Ericaceous as I hadn’t encountered any member morphologically similar to this.

Rusty Staggerbush (Lyonia ferruginea (Walter) Nutt.)

Before my trip I had no idea the genus Lyonia was so well represented in Florida. This Lyonia is quite distinct with the rusty brown hairs all over the leaves, an adaptation presumably to the heat of the scrub. This plant is very common in the scrub habitats and incredibly distinct. I only include a photo here because I really think it is amazing.

Lastly, my Uncle Gerry accompanied me in the field for a long, hot, and wet field day. We were in the field from ca. 7am-7pm and he didn’t complain once, even with my inane plant talk all day. What a trooper.  

Most importantly thanks to the Maryland Native Plant Society who funded my exploratory plant work in Florida. A future post and a formal scientific write-up about the scientific intent of this exploration will follow.