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Persimmon

Persimmon

Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) – A small deciduous tree that bears orange-colored fruit, which is delicious when completely ripe but will pucker the mouth if eaten before it gets soft and falls from the tree. The young bark is orange in fissures, later breaking into square, scaly thick plates reminiscent of charcoal briquettes (very unique).  The tree is ideal for erosion control on hot dry slopes such as our red bluffs.  Persimmons are a favorite of the opossum, our only native marsupial. The leaves are a food source for the larvae of the luna moth.

Persimmon Bark

Persimmon Bark

Persimmon Fruit

Persimmon Fruit

Water Oak

Water Oak

Water Oak (Quercus nigra) – A semi-evergreen tree that can grow up to 60 feet tall. Bark is dark—smooth when young and later developing wide, scaly ridges. Acorns are eaten by birds, deer, squirrels and other wildlife. The White-M hairstreak butterfly lays its eggs on this tree. The spreading, rounded, open canopy is weaker than most oaks and subject to wind damage.

Water Oak Leaves and Acorns

Water Oak Leaves and Acorns

Florida Rosemary

Florida Rosemary

Florida Rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides) – This smaller ornamental shrub is not related to the edible herb rosemary, although they are similar in appearance. It grows only in a scrub environment along with sand pines and scrub oaks (dry, sandy soil) and is hard to transplant. Tiny yellow berries are not edible to humans, but are a favorite food of ants. The rosemary releases an herbicide that only dissipates when exposed to fire, which allows just one seedling to sprout and take root in place of the parent plant.

Berries

Berries

Florida Rosemary

Florida Rosemary

Chinese Privet

Chinese Privet

Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense) – Chinese Privet is a semi-evergreen to evergreen flowering shrub of the olive family and has traditionally been used as an ornamental throughout the southern states. It tolerates shade, and can grow to 20-30 feet in height, often forming dense thickets, particularly in bottomland forests and field edges. In addition to physically displacing native plants, Chinese Privet has been associated with an in¬creased rate of decomposition in forest litter, which may lead to alterations in plant as¬semblies. Assembly rules are processes in nature that may help explain the existence of vegetation in various ecosystems. It may also indicate that invasion by Chinese Privet can reduce a forest’s ability to store carbon, a potential concern in reference to climate change. In addition to Chinese Privet, Japanese and Glossy Privet are common invaders in northern Florida woodlands.

Common Reed

Common Reed

Common Reed (Phragmites spp.) – Native Americans used common reed for arrow shafts, musical instruments, ceremonial objects, cigarettes, and leaves and stems for constructing mats. In coastal areas, preserved rhizome fragments dating back 3,000-4,000 years have been found in salt marsh sediments indicating that it is native to these habitats. Both native and introduced forms have been used for duckblinds. Common reed is a vigorous growing plant that forms dense stands that consume available growing space and push out other plants. It also alters wetland hydrology, increases the potential for fire and degrades wetland wildlife habitat due to its dense growth.

Chinese Tallow Tree/Popcorn Tree

Chinese Tallow Tree/Popcorn Tree

Chinese Tallow Tree/Popcorn Tree (Triadica sebifera) – Chinese Tallow, also known as Popcorn Tree, Chicken Tree, Vegetable Tallow, Florida Aspen, or White Wax Berry, was introduced from Southeast Asia, where it was cultivated for its oils and medicinal properties in the late 1800s. In the early 1900s, the USDA recommended the culture of Chinese Tallow for use in soap production, and because it is prized for its fall color and use in beekeep¬ing, it has been introduced across the southeastern states. Unfortu¬nately, it has naturalized readily, and caused significant changes to ecosystems across Florida by shading and out-competing native plants, and suppressing nearby plants by releasing chemicals that inhibit their growth. Because of its aggressive spread, Chinese Tallow has been listed by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, USDA, and the Exotic Pest Plant Council as a noxious weed, the further planting of which is prohibited. It is well adapted to fire, and can reduce the flammability of an area, making prescribed burning difficult.

Bracken Fern

Bracken Fern

Bracken Fern (Pteridium acquilinum) – A large deciduous fern that grows everywhere in the world except for the hot and cold deserts and Antarctica. As ferns, brackens do not have seeds or fruits, but the immature fronds, known as fiddleheads, are edible. Plants send up large, triangular fronds and may form large thickets. Spore cases form along the underside edge of the leaflets. Evolutionarily, bracken may be considered one of the most successful and one of the oldest ferns, with fossil records dating back 55 million years.

Spores

Spores

Fiddlehead

Fiddlehead

Saw Palmetto

Saw Palmetto

Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) – A small fan palm that grows up to 6’. The fruit is a large reddish-black drupe (a fleshy fruit with thin skin and a seed). Cherries, almonds and dates are examples of drupes. The plant is used as food by the insect order Lepidoptera, which includes many species of moths and butterflies. It has a sprawling trunk and grows in clumps or dense thickets in sandy coastal lands or as undergrowth in pine woods or hardwood hammocks. It is hearty, extremely slow growing and long-lived, with some plants in Florida as old as 700 years. While the saw palmetto has been used for many purposes by humans, an entire industry developed around its use in the past few decades; palmetto products have become popular due to their effectiveness in treating prostate problems.

Fruit

Fruit

Saw Palmetto Leaves

Saw Palmetto Leaves

Wax Myrtle

Wax Myrtle

Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera) – This small tree or large shrub is adaptable to many habitats, growing naturally in wetlands, near flowing bodies of water, sand dunes, fields, hillsides, pine barrens, and in both needleleaf and mixed broadleaf forests. Easily grown as a specimen plant because it can thrive in most conditions and is salt tolerant, it can be pruned or shaped into a hedge. Thirty species of birds thrive on the fruit of the wax myrtle. Other names for this plant are the Southern Wax Myrtle, Southern Bayberry, Candleberry, Bayberry tree and Tallow shrub. We use it not only in the garden, but for candlemaking (bayberry candles) and as a medicinal plant. The Native Americans used it as a pain killer, diuretic, tonsil gargle, for stomach aches, worms and dysentery.

Wax Myrtle Leaves

Wax Myrtle Leaves

Southern Magnolia

Southern Magnolia

Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) – This magnificent evergreen tree grows up to 80 feet tall with its shiny green leaves and dinner plate-sized fragrant white flowers. An excellent shade tree for gardens and streetscapes. It’s fruit-like cone contains many red seeds which are spread by birds and
mammals. Squirrels, opossums, quail and turkey are known to eat the seeds. The magnolia is found in different ecological areas that are shady and contain well-drained soil, but it is also found in hummocks, along ravines, on slopes and in wooded floodplains.  Can also be found on the edges of water bodies and swamps in association with sweetgum, water oak and black tupelo.

Red Seeds

Red Seeds

Flower

Flower

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