Fall Discovery, Hogs & Orchids

 I was walking the trails today to discover traces of litter such as pieces of broken glass, metal and plastic from the site's heritage as a dump site.

I  also found some abandoned shell  casings from earlier hunting expeditions and fresher evidence of the need for a hunt.

Most of it was in the small bayhead in the southwest corner of the north tract.

There was obvious hog damage among the Cinnamon Ferns.

But there was more. The orchids are beginning to emerge and  I found a previously undiscovered  fruiting Dahoon Holly after all of  these years here. 

It was a successful expedition.

 

Spring 'Arrives With Some Color And The Promise Of More

 

Spring here officially began earlier this week. Though the landscape still looks a bit dreary because of the current dry conditions--only recorded 0.15 of an inch of rain this month despite encouraging weather predictions accompanying each cold front--there are some hints of color here and there.

Some of it is showier than others.

 

Indian Pipes Popping Up Again

 

After a few years' apparent absence, Indian Pipes are emerging again in the pinewoods in the southern tract, which is where I have encountered them more often.

It seems they are just beginning to emerge and I will have to return to see how widespread they are this time.

Several years ago this plant was rife. Perhaps there will be a recurrence.

  

Still Making Discoveries After 17 Years

I put together a tentative plant  list for this site about 10 years, but the list continues to grow as I stumble onto species I missed somehow during 17 years of crisscrossing this small preserve.
The latest was Zigzag Bladderwort, a small yellow-flowered plant with a filamentous stem that I find in wet areas in pine flatwoods. This plant appeared at the edge of lowland area near its collision with scrubby flatwoods. Ecotones are like that.
I also recently found a  new species (for this site) of tiger beetles. Now the site boasts two common species.
Meanwhile, I have also been counting the bog orchids popping up in the small bayhead
I am also in the process of cutting a path around the perimeter along the fence line to further surv
ey this section to advance efforts to complete a catalog of the flora on managed properties in Polk and Highlands counties.
I also found the discarded shell of a Florida Box Turtle; in the Bayhead. I do not know where it came from. I rarely see this species anywhere.

Spring Arrives Colorfully

I was out checking today and was struck by the beginning of some color spring blossoms besides the pawpaws, which had been blooming for a few weeks.

Now milkweeds, greeneyes, piriqueta, helianthemum, Britton's beargrass and snakeherb are blooming and Alicia appears close to blooming.

I also noticed that in response to last year's prescribed fire on the north end of the tract, Clitoria mariana is sprouting in places I had never seen it before.

I checked on the Clitoria fragrans, but haven't seen much change from the minuscule number of plants that have always been in the southeast corner of the north tract.
I'm also seeing some expansion of Praxelis. I'll have to keep an eye on it.
Earlier this week I spent a few hours digging cogon grass in the southeast section.

While I was out today, I saw a lot of insects buzzing around a blooming Hercules club, whose flowers were nearly spent and less fragrant than they area at their prime.
In the same area I noticed some Brazilian pepper have returned.
It will be cooler later this week so I can attack them then.
I also want to restore a narrow path around the bayhead for monitoring purposes.
Ridge Rangers 25th anniversary event is next Saturday. I have been asked to speak. Hope we have a good turnout. It will be good to see my friends.
 

A new plant species appears after fire

I have been searching the area that was burned last year for the emergence of wildflowers that the fire might have encouraged to sprout after some dormancy.
I have seen some species in new places as a result of the fire, but this week found a species I had never recorded here.
It is Early Blue Violet (Viola palmata), a fairly widespread species that I have been seeing occasionally this year, but never in great numbers as the other violet species around the area.

How does my rosemary measure up?

One of the things I've noticed over the year is the height of the Rosemary plants in
some spots, which I attribute to lack of fire perhaps.
I have seen plants noticeably taller than me, which isn't that tall in real terms, but seems tall for Rosemary.
All of the Rosemary is in the south tract in discrete sections.
Today I wandered around for a couple of hours looking for plants and measuring their heights.
The tallest plant I found was 76 inches ( 30 cm) tall. Several others were  between 65 and 71 inches tall.
Inevitably my meanderings involved the discovery of small trash caches, some of which I was able to toss into the fire lane for later pickup. The rest I left in small piles to make them more noticeable during future forays.
I encountered a small flock of Pine Warblers, which I find here sometimes in winter, and one Barred Sulfur butterfly. 

Blooms everywhere in the preserve

Spring is gradually becoming more colorful at the preserve.

Prickly Pear, Britton's Beargrass, Gallberry and more are blooming now.
I also have found the earlier infestation of Praxelis clematidea  that has arrived perhaps via the fire lane mowing. I have not seen the species outside of the fire lane.
Cogon Grass is spreading in the northwest fire lane from off site and a portion of the site outside the fence.

The preserve is getting visitors

Visitors are rare here.
So,  whenever they do select this site, I like to be a good host.
On the eve of the spring equinox, some friends from the Suncoast Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society are coming to visit.
I had been invited to speak to this group last year about the Scrub Lupine recovery efforts and related topics.
I hope flowering plants are a little more in evidence by then, but I expect they'll enjoy the opportunity to visit and explore a new natural area. 

The Lost Orchids

I've been perplexed by the absence of the main stand of P. escritata orchids I discovered several years ago in the north tract.
I finally learned what apparently happened.
The preparation work for the prescribed fire that involved mechanical clearing apparently damaged the corms to the point they will not produce additional plants.
Another spot was damaged  by  the widening of the fire lane  north of this site.
That means the only extant site for this species on the preserve may be in the south tract, which has not been disturbed.
I'll have to dig up by old GPS data and see if I can relocate that site.
Pity.

Got Monotropa?

I finished my several weeks survey of Indian Pipes (Monotropa uniflora) in the south tract of Lake Blue  Scrub near Auburndale.

The botany books describe this species as "occasional, " which what my  experience has been with this species.

This year was different.  I have flagged 43 of these plants within  a couple of acres of the preserve.

I don't know whether this is unusual, but it's worth recording in case it is.

Indian Pipes Continue

It's winter, but there are Indian Pipes all over the .western half of the south tract of the preserve.

Wunderlin describes this species as "occasional" in summer and fall.

Small thought there were two or three species, one in Florida scrub, though today the systematics are clearer.  He was vague on timing of appearance.,

I found more today when I was walking along the newly mechanically cleared path  while I was working on a multiple-day trash removal operation to collect and remove debris I found while I was looking for  Indian Pipes in the eastern section of the tract.

I have marked every Indian Pipes I could find with blue flags to allow me to check next year to see whether this was an overlooked annual occurrence or an unusual event I will have to wait to see a repeat.

Indian Pipes Rediscovered

Indian Pipes The genus Monotropa ( Indian Pipes  and Pinesap) is an interesting one  that I don't know much about except that's it's an occasion when I find one.

The last one I saw was along the Suwanee River during a camping trip two years ago.
I found two today in the south tract about 100 feet from each other as I was roaming through the brush looking for suitable subjects to photograph on the first day of winter.
These are the first I'd seen here in about 10 years.

Wireweed At Peak Here

One of the least ubiquitous rare plants at the preserve is Polygonella basiramia, aka Wireweed.

 It is blooming now in the few spots where it is found, though in one spot this year it is quite abundant. Today I counted more than 300 plants.
Scrub Blazing Star (nee Sand Torch), Liatris ohlingerae is still blooming, too, along with several more common species.

Fall is wonderful in this place if you enjoy color.

Moths & Milkweed

I made an interesting discovery this week.
While I was wrapping up some exotics control around dusk, I saw a  couple of Harlequin Moths on Curtiss' Milkweed.

I had seen these moths in the preserve before,, but I had never seen moths of this species nectaring before.

Typically, sphinxes and flower moths do this, but from what I've read, most other moths do not. In fact, many moths do not feed much in their adult stage.

Scrub's Summer White

White flowers are everywhere in the scrub at Lake Blue this summer.

                                       Curtiss' Milkweed

                                       Pine Catchfly

                                    Milkweed Seed Pod and Milkweed Bug

There's Curtiss' Milkweed, Pine Catchfly, Feay's Palaox, Elliott's Milk Pea and Sandlace. Another white natural object is the opening seed pod for Butterfly Weed, which has orang flowers. Inside the seed pod is a Large Milkweed Bug.

It's hot, but there's lot to see.

Lupine Are Coming Up All Overl

I stopped by today to check on the progress of the Scrub Lupine sprouting in the original planting area.
I wasn't disappointed.
I found several more sprouts. I have found 35 new sprouts in addition to what my friends at Bok Tower, who did the initial survey, came up with.
I found more seedlings outside of the expected area, leading me to wonder how do the seeds spread?
I have been told they are ejected some distance, but it seems there is another factor at work,.
I have seen the same thing in my yard with the neighbor's Orchid Tree (Bauhinia). It is known to eject seeds, but I find sprouts 40 feet away.
I'm left to wonder whether it's wildlife or humans (carrying seeds a short distance on the soles of our  .shoes or both.

Plenty To Show For Nature Fest

I was out yesterday afternoon checking on more spots to show visitors Saturday during Central Florida Naturefest and I  wasn't disappointed.

The Habaneria orchids are already beginning to bloom in the bayhead. Octoberflower is everywhere. Lopsided Indian Grass is in bloom. So are Blazing Star species. I even saw some lingering Summer Farewell. It should be a good day.

 

More Ridge Color

Thle Garberia, which also has a whitish form, is a lovely flower even when nothing's nectaring on it.

As Garberia blossom,  the sumac is fruiting and its leaves are changing color.

And, of course the Blue Curls are as lovely and delicate as ever.  

Fall Color On My Ridge

It takes a month or so into fall before the colors really become brilliant here.
In addition to the colors, the flowering grasses are striking against the sun.

There are colorful insects to match the foliage, like the Scarlet Skimmer dragonfly.

Meanwhile, Garberia is starting to bloom and attracting insects because little else is bloming.

 The violet flowers contrast with a orange Gulf Fritillary. It also attracted Ocola, Fiery and Long-tailed Skippers.

 Enjoy the photos.