Begonias and Swamp Orchids

As I've written, this island is mostly covered with white sand, but there's a bayhead in one corner. Someone cut a path along the fence line and I followed it the other day. It was worth the slog through the muck. New species awaited me in this unexplored habitat.


First a bit of pink caught my eye. I couldn't imagine what could have pink blooms in a swamp at this time of year. It turned out to be a couple of patches of Wax Begonia. How odd and ironic. J.B. McFarlin, the long ago explorer of local scrub, owned a begonia nursery in Bradenton in his later years.

As I walked deeper into the bay swamp, I found a patch of Habenaria repens, only the second species of orchid I've found here. The other is Giant orchid, Pteroglosappsis escritata,that I discovered three years ago when I was looking for Britton's bear grass.. I also saw sphagnum moss. I'll return to explore. I'll bring rubber boots.