There is one flower that is especially unique here.
It is the Scrub blazing star, Liatris ohlingerae.
This is the only known remaining site on the Winter Haven Ridge where this species is extant. J.B. McFarlin, a botanist who collected in the area in the 1930s, found it at Lake Fannie on the other side of Winter Haven, but that scrub is overgrown today and on the verge of development, so Lake Blue is it in this part of the archipelago. As you can see, it is a lovely flower. It blooms in late summer and early fall. I have about 50 plants in this preserve.
Its other name is sand torch. I can see why, especially on a sunny day with bare white sand around it.
