Fall Arrives, But Some Wildflowers Waiting

 

Today was the first day of fall and I went out in the midday heat to find out what was blooming.

It was mostly an early purple affair. The Chapman's Blazing Star were rife in their usual spots on the preserve's west side.

In the center were an impressive array of Scrub Blazing Star. 

I saw one blooming Scrub Morning Glory and the Scrub Holly berries are emerging, but are still green.

I noticed a handful of the McFarlin's Lupin have survived their first summer, which is a sign they may survive to adulthood, but there is another summer between now and then.

Still holding off from flowering here are the Carphephorous and the Balduina, both of which are still in the bud stage.

I noticed the recent rains have turned up more broken glass and I found an intact beer bottle and wine bottle that re likely courtesy of the generosity of the neighbors.

I guess will have to return with a grabber and a bucket to remove them from the landscape.

Fall color is stunning this year

 The colors in the preserve this year are stunning. Although most of the Liatris has gone to seed, the Balduina, Carphephorous and Blue Curls are rife in places as is the Lopsided Indian Grass. The Scrub Blazing Star has declined, but is doing well in one remaining isolated patch. Mechanical management apparently took a toll on the other populations here. I also found a striking metallic wood-boring beetle.

October arrives; it is colorful

 I'll let the flowers speak for themselves.

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.

Post-Irma Report From Preserve

I'm still finding some effects from Hurricane Irma, though there was no serious damage.
I found a couple of downed pine trees in the north tract.
The disturbance of the vegetation also exposed a tire lodged in some palmettos that I had never found before. I removed it.
I have made a few checks of the south tract and have found no damage so far.
I also saw some flagged areas that may indicate the boundaries of the next burn units.
Another observation is that for some reason fall wildflowers are only slowly appearing.
One plant that is notable by its absence is Scrub Blazing Star, which is usually common along the north-south path in the middle of the preserve. This year I have seen only two.
The only thing that has changed is that there was some bush-hogging that may have been preparation for a future burn by preparing a wider gap in the vegetation. The effect, as usual with this kind of mechanical work, has been to encourage the proliferation of Natal grass.
It is possible the Natal grass has outcompeted the Liatris.

New Exotic Wildflower Has Benefits

(From top to bottom: Great Purple Hairstreak, Zebra Longwing, Black-dotted Spragueia, Gulf Fritillary)

There has been a lot of heavy breathing in the native plant community during the last few years about the appearance of another tropical exotic.
This one is Praxelis clematidea. It vaguely resembles some native wildflowers, but has a telltale scent of cat urine that clinches the identification.
It thrives in disturbed areas and is likely spread by mowing equipment because fire lanes are where I'm finding it here.
What I'm also finding is a lot of butterflies and other pollinators on it.
Today I found 13 species of butterflies, two species of moths and two species of wasps nectaring on this plant in the fire lane during a brief visit.
Interestingly, this was only my second sighting of Great Purple Hairstreak.

Garberia begins blooming; tree trash remains

I took a walk to check on things this afternoon.
Most of the fall flowers such as Liatris and Balduinia are mostly past their prime. Carphephorous is still  coming in. Garberia is just beginning to bloom in scattered spots.
Lopsided Indian Grass has dropped most of its colorful seeds.
The  large pile of tree debris from the north fence line remains. No evidence the site has been visited by FWC.
I found one Chinese tallow tree along west fence line. I need to get out and clip it. The trunk is on the other side of the fence on CSX property.    

Fall Color Arrives

The arrival of fall here is a colorful event. The most noticeable  patches are the Balduinia and October Flower.

Some Liatris and Carphepherous are beginning to bloom.
Lopsided Indian Grass is blooming, too.
It's a great time to walk around and enjoy the season.  

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.

The Colors of Fall's Second Half

You have to look harder for color at this time of year, but it's there.
Over the weekend I checked on the Tooth reined orchis in the bayhead.  They're up. I passed Cinnamon Fern on the way and elsewhere found Blue Curls and Sand Lace.

The most common butterfly at the time is Little Yellow,.

It Looks Like An Early Spring

It has been a mild winter.
January, the coldest month of the year at this latitude, is nearly over and no freezes are in sight.
February and March freezes are not unheard of, but December and January weather usually sets the tone.

This weekend I noticed Shiny Blueberry in full bloom and a few Pityopsis in flower even though they normally don't bloom until spring.

Equally puzzling is the fact that I saw Blue Curls, which blooms in mid-autumn, still blooming earlier this week. Today I saw a bud on one plant.

A Collectible Among The Castoffs

During my recent Indian Pipes quest--I found about 25 plants--I also found some trash piles from previous encampments.

Among the debris was a Teem bottle. I could tell it was old because it mentioned that you could turn it in for a deposit, which has not been possible in Florida for decades, despite attempts by environmentalists and others to return to the practice.

I finally got the majority of debris hauled out this morning, thought there's still a mattress frame I have to extract when I bring in the tools to do it.

I flagged more Indian Pipes this morning. They're popping up like winter mushrooms. I wonder if this year's high rainfall was a factor.
 

Full Field Trip Saturday At Lake Blue

This Saturday will be the second field trip at Lake Blue Scrub during Polk's fledgling Central Florida Naturefest.
Last year's tour was an intimate affair. Only two people signed up. Festival planners asked if I wanted to cancel. I said no. If someone took the trouble to sign up, they should get a tour.
This year will be different. I received  word the tour is full, which means there will be about a dozen people here.
FWC has promised to have the fire lane mowed by Saturday so there will be no wading through waist-high weeds.
The only downside of scheduling the festival this late in October is many of the wildflowers that were blooming earlier in the month around the date for last  year's festival are declining or absent. There will still be plenty to see, though. I also plan to bring the site's signature beetle.

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.

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.

Innocence, Lupines & Trash

I stopped by the preserve today twice to weed and to check on progress of Scrub Lupine seedlings. I only visited the older site and the volunteer sites. I found additional seedlings following the recent winter rains. The challenge will be how many survive the spring drought.

Mushrooms are emerging now in scrub.

Also Innocence (Houstponia precumbens) is blooming now, providing a little color to the landscape.

I found scattered trash that was brought up by the recent rain. I also found a new area where trash was buried. I'll dig it up later.

I Love October Here

I love to come to this place in October because of the

expected beauty I see and the unexpected bonus sights i run across.

I gave a tour during Central Florida Naturefest and then came back on my own for a more liesurely view.

I've been out here more than a decade and I still find it worth exploring because there's so much new to find.

Today I'll show you Blue-eyed Grass, Balduinia, Palafoxia, Lopsided Indian Grass in an oak hammock, A jumping spider at home in cactus hiding we and new, petite moth called a Harlequin Webworm Moth.

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.