- Curious about something you saw while walking in the woods? Spot the coolest bug ever? The prettiest flower and butterfly? Stumble on a rock and found a fossil? Or was it? This is the place to show your discoveries and share in the knowledge of the natural world right outside our doors. Join in the fun everyday at The Daily Bucket.
April 2015
Yes I know, for most of the USA it is SPRING! But in North Florida, spring was so 2 months ago. Given the 90º temps and high humidity in between the rain days, it sure feels like summer. The spring ephemerals are long gone but we are blessed with later-blooming wildflowers and trees.
I'll start with photos taken in my yard the last few days and then after the fold, a few photos from Spring Canyon on the other side of Gadsden County from me.
Coral Bean - A favorite of mine, and one of the first wildflowers I was able to ID when I bought this property 7 years ago. I have lots more now that I know how to plant the seed (when pod is dry but beans are green, before the beans turn red and harden, otherwise you have to scarify it). It takes about 3 years for a new plant to flower.
Blue Flag Iris - despite the size and bright colors, these are easy to miss since the blooms are gone in a couple days. This colony is growing near the duff and bark from the big Loblolly Pine that fell in front of me last December.
Butterflyweed - any day now.... This is growing in my little bit of yard by the house. Four stems this year; 1 stem the year I found it. I've been trying to start more whenever a milkweed pod develops, but I don't do so well on plants that need care other than broadcast and hope. Starting seeds and potting them up is doomed to death by neglect.
With all the flowers around here, there must be butterflies. Here's a Red-spotted Purple sunning itself on a Magnolia leaf. If you look close you can almost see the red spots on the upper wing. Then last night when picking a bit of parsley, I may have seen the egg of a recent visitor, a Black Swallowtail. The egg was a yellow dot about this "º" big. Hope I see the caterpillar or chrysalis this year.
Photos from Spring Canyon last weekend.
Florida Anise - when you don't see the spiral shape of the red flower or hardened seedcase, break off a leaf and smell. Understory evergreen that grows thickly on slopes in the wetter areas. Very limited range.
Possumhaw - a small tree spreading along the edge of the pond. And another example of confusing common names. There's Possumhaw the holly (
Ilex decidua) but this is a
Viburnum.
Fringetree -
another understory tree and in the Olive family; easy to miss unless it's blooming.
Away from the slopes and up on the sandhill where the Longleaf Pines are growing, there was a controlled burn a few weeks ago. Perfect timing for the Green-eyes (
Berlandiera) to pop up after and bloom. These will continue thru the summer in to fall.
Bear grass - burned but alive,
Yucca filamentosa has adapted to burning. Flowers form on the stalk (up to 6') and will last awhile. Then hard seedpods will hang on for months.
Lots of other plants are flowering now but these are the more dramatic and interesting ones. Overcast this morning but may be sunny later so I'll be out and around, searching and observing. Nothing pleases me more than to simply stand outside someplace and wait. That's when you are most likely to spot unexpected interactions between plants, birds, insects and all the rest of the natural world. See ya in the comments!
WAIT, there's more! I posted these in Daily Bucket comments recently, so for those who might have missed them...
Monarch on a glossy-leaf Ligustrum - I don't get to see Monarchs often here; guess this ornamental flowering shrub has some value. But, this and the Chinese Privet will spread and become invasive in the SE.
Watching this Bumblebee force its way into a
Gopherweed bloom was neat. When it pulled out, the petals snapped shut. After seeing the photo, I noticed the stamen and pistil up at the bee's tail-end and the pollen on it as the bee pushed down. What a great cross-pollination strategy.
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