Fern Table, by Carol Johnston

Orchid Table

Orchids observed in Florida

LIBS Field Trip: 31 March to 7 April 2011

Calopogon barbatus, bearded grass-pink; flowers; 1

Campylocentrum pachyrrhizum, ribbon orchid; fruits [leafless]; 2

Cyrtopodium punctatum, cowhorn orchid; flowers; 3

Dendrophylax lindenii, ghost orchid; gray-green roots [leafless]; 2

Encyclia tampensis, Florida butterfly orchid; leaves; 2, 3

Epidendrum amphistomum [often reported as E. anceps], dingy-flowered star orchid; flowers; 2, 3

Epidendrum nocturnum, night-scented orchid; fruits; 2, 3

Epidendrum rigidum, stiff flower star orchid; flowers & fruits; 2, 3

Harrisella porrecta, jingle bell orchid; fruits (hang in clusters); 2

Polystachya concreta, yellow helmet orchid; fruits; 2, 3

Prosthechea (Encyclia) cochleata var. triandra, Florida clamshell orchid; fruits & pseudo-bulbs; 2, 3

Sacoila (Spiranthes) lanceolata, scarlet ladies’-tresses; flowers; 3

1 = Apalachicola National Forest

2 = Fakahatchee Strand

3 = Corkscrew Swamp

History of the Fakahatchee Strand

This is the link to an article about the preservation of the Fakahatchee Strand.

Plant Lists

We didn't have room in the newsletter to publish the plant lists that were generated by the participants.

Here's a link to the Rare Plants and Key, prepared by Ann Johnson.

Email and Photos from Skip and Jane

Skip and Jane Blanchard joined us for the first three days of our trip. We miss these longtime members who moved to Florida several years ago and it was wonderful to be in their company again. They sent the following email and photos after returning home:

Our trip home to Gainesville was uneventful, and we arrived exactly at 6 pm. As it was April 1, and as we were passing through Perry en route, we briefly toyed with the idea of stopping at the motel and attempting to persuade the person at the desk to tell the group that they had no record of reservations for 16 people from LIBS. Fearing rampant cardiac consequences, however, we simply briefly toyed with the idea.

 

It was great to spend time with all of you. Have a great rest of your trip.

Skip & Jane

P.S. We're enjoying the blog.

P.P.S. Yep, definitely a rough green snake. No smooth green snakes in Florida.

P.P.P.S. Salamander may have been a four-toed. Still working on it. (Does anyone have a photo that shows the diagnostic four toes instead of five on the hind foot?)

P.P.P.P.S. Pink and yellow moth at Sumatra rest stop was rosy maple moth (Dryocampa rubicunda) NOT evening primrose moth. Oops!

P.P.P.P.P.S. Please share this message if you can.

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Sorry about all the postscripts.

Corkscrew Swamp Photos

John Heidecker just sent in a couple photos he took while with us on the boardwalk today at Corkscrew Swamp:

Red lady's-tresses is an orchid (I'll post the scientific name when I get to it).

And "air plants" also need a name---Eric--can you post a comment providing identification?? Thanks.

Our last group photo

By a Royal Palm along the tram line in the Fakahatchee Strand. Photo by John Heidecker.

Fakahatchee

Today, park biologist Mike Owen guided us through a dense, sub-tropical pop ash-pond apple slough at Fakahatchee Strand and showed us 9 species of epiphytic orchids (see photo of Epidendrum amphistomum), and 8 species of bromeliads (including the delicate fuzzy-wuzzy air plant, Tillandsia pruinosa).

Day 6

We spent the day in the shell mound vegetation of Ding Darling Preserve. Here is our guide, George Wilder, showing us the difference between myrsine (Rapanea puncata) and island marlberry (Ardisia escallonoides).

A Rare Find!

Sunday morning, right in back of our hotel in Sebring, we discovered three federally endangered species, not previously known from this locality.

Calamintha ashei (Ashe's calamint), Polygonella myriophylla (Small's jointweed), and Hypericum cumulicola (highlands scrub St. Johnswort).

Calamintha ashei

At Highland Hammock

Day 3

It was a long day of driving from Perry to Sebring.

But on the way, we stopped for a couple of hours at Fanning Springs State Park where we were greeted by what some of us thought was a friendly little tribe of Druids, emerging from under the cypress trees (see photo).

And we enjoyed Kathy's demonstration of a unique characteristic of Cornus (dogwood). When the leaf blade is carefully torn, xylem elements in the veins can be drawn out between the two halves, like a very fine thread.

Our 1st orchid

At a bog in Apalachicola National Forest, among pitcher plants and sundews, we found Calopogon barbatus, bearded grasspink. These dime-sized hot-pink flowers have a shocking yellow lip and are only seen in the spring, in sites that have recently been burned.

Group Photo

Days 1 & 2

"Botanize till we drop" summarizes our past two days. Our days begin slightly after sunrise and set with the sun. Yesterday, we spent the day at Torreya State Park and were most fortunate to have Wilson Baker as our guide; he identified every plant we saw, including the last few remaining wild individuals of the rare Torreya taxifolia. Today, LIBS member Ann Johnson guided us through "her bog" in Appalachicola Nat'l Forest, where we saw four flowering species of carnivorous butterworts (including the federal endangered Panhandle Butterwort, Pinguicula ionantha), among dozens of other spring wildflowers. Three of us had a close encounter with an eastern cottonmouth snake (see photo).

Sop.choppy

Just crossed the sop choppy river

Be patient

We spent 12 hours in the field today and haven't found a chance to compose ourselves, let alone compose a blog post.

Day 1

We are here at Torreya State Park. Photos to follow.