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TRAIL Wayside Shrine
wild�ower
floraSouth Florida Community College
Museum of Florida Art and Culture
South Florida Community College 600 West College Drive
Avon Park, FL 33825863.453.6661
www.waysideshrinetrail.com
South Florida Community College
Museum of Florida Art and Culture
©
TRAIL Wayside Shrine
wild�ower
floraA guide to the scrub plants
found on the Lake Wales Ridge at South Florida Community College
pistilstamen
petalsepal
Flower Structure
South Florida Community College 600 West College Drive Avon Park, FL 33825 863.453.6661 863.784.7240Sebring
Avon Park
HighlandsH
arde
e
Polk
64West College Drive
27
6698
©
TRAIL Wayside Shrine
wild�ower
How the Ridge Was Formed
The Wildflower Wayside Shrine Trail is part of a distinct natural region in Central Florida called the Lake Wales Ridge. It is an ancient beach and sand dune system formed 1 – 3 million years ago that has survived various environmental changes.
Over the millennia, rising and receding seas exposed and covered much of the Florida Peninsula. Following glacial stages, polar ice-caps melted, waters rose, and a series of ridges stood as islands in a vast ocean that covered most of Florida. Isolated from their relatives, plants and animals existing on these ridges evolved unique characteristics. The Lake Wales Ridge is the largest of these ridges and runs through the middle of the Florida Peninsula.
The Ridge is a diverse landscape that collects 50 inches of rain most years. The scrub is a shrubland and is similar to shrublands in California, the Mediterranean, South Africa, and Australia. It is the highest point in peninsular Florida, but stands only about 300 feet above sea level.
Plants and Animals in the Scrub
The Lake Wales Ridge is significant in that it has one of the highest concentrations of threatened and endangered plants and animals in the United
States. Approximately 40 species of endangered and threatened plants and animals survive on the Ridge. Out
of those 40 species, 20 species of plants and six animal species are protected by the federal government.
Scrub has helped to make the Lake Wales Ridge famous and is home to a large number of narrowly
distributed plants. In fact, Highlands County, Fla., is ranked 11th in the nation for having the highest number of
threatened and endangered species.
Clumps of shrubs, mostly oaks and blueberry relatives, cover the sandy knolls and are interspersed with open patches of bare sand. Scrub is maintained by infrequent (every 20 to 80 years) but intense fires.
Florida’s Ancient Islands
Remaining Scrub
THe LAke WALeS RiDge
Prickly Pear
Although scrub receives as much rain as other habitats in the state, its well-drained sand allows water to pass through rapidly, forcing plants to evolve special strategies for efficiently gathering and retaining moisture. For example, the leaves of the Sand Live Oak are waxed by the plants themselves, which make a shiny surface on the upper side of their leaves. The Scrub Oak keeps a lot of itself underground. Many scrub animals survive by digging a little way down under the sand where it is cooler. The Sand Skink, a lizard that lives only in the Florida scrub, skirms along below the surface of the sand where it searches for insects and spiders to eat. Air and water pass easily through the loose sand, so the Sand Skink seldom needs to come to the surface. Gopher tortoises make burrows in the sand where they are protected from heat, cold, fire, and predators.
Conservation
A compelling reason to save species is the medicinal and agricultural value of plants and animals. Most species have not been tested for their possible benefit to mankind.
Unfortunately, 85 percent of the original Ridge habitat has been lost to citrus production and residential development. These species and fragmented natural areas are all that remain of an ancient flora and fauna that is truly unique.
During the late 1980s, a group of scientists recommended the purchase of a system of sanctuaries that would protect the best remaining parcels of habitat to ensure the survival of the plants and animals of this vanishing ecosystem. The State of Florida, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other organizations are working in partnership to ensure the long-term protection of the native plants, animals, and natural communities of this truly unique region of central Florida. But while there have been many successes in land acquisition on the Lake Wales Ridge, the real work has only begun to protect, restore, and maintain native habitats and the threatened and endangered plant and animal species they support.
Sources: http://www.archbold-station.org/discoveringflscrub/intro/intro.html http://www.fws.gov/southeast/pubs/facts/lakcon.pdf http://www.lakewalesridge.org/ http://www.lakewalesridge.org/fai/ridge.html
Sand Skink
VASCULAR PLANTS
Scrub Pawpaw Asimina obovata Description: Woody, perennial shrub to 9 feet tall Flowering time: March - May
Scrub Hickory Carya floridana Description: Endemic to central Florida, can reach 40 feet Flowering time: March - April
Florida Rosemary Ceratiola ericoides Description: Bushy, evergreen; grows 5-7 feet tall Flowering time: March - June
Pygmy Fringe Tree Chionanthus pygmaeus Description: Shrub or small tree to 6 feet tall Flowering time: March - June
Bull Nettle or Tread Softly Cnidoscolus stimulosus Description: Perennial; 24-36 inches in height Flowering time: March - September
Highlands Scrub St. John’s Wort Hypericum cumulicola Description: Small flowering plant grows to 20 inches tall Flowering time: April - September
Lantana Lantana camara Description: Rugged evergreen to 3-6 feet tall Flowering time: February - October
Scrub Blazing Star Liatris ohlingerae Description: Perennial herb with pubescent stems to 3 feet tallFlowering time: July - October
Gopher Apple Licania michauxii Description: Upper surface glabrous; shrub to 1 foot tall Flowering time: March - August
Rusty Staggerbush Lyonia ferruginea Description: Evergreen shrub or small tree to 15 feet tall Flowering time: January - April
Fetterbush Lyonia lucida Description: Woody, evergreen shrub to 6 feet tall or more; branches smooth Flowering time: November - June
Prickly Pear Opuntia humifusa Description: Perennial with fleshy stems of flattened pads; grows to 2.5 feet tall Flowering time: March - August
Feay’s Palafox Palafoxia feayi Description: Perennial, woody shrub grows to 9 feet Flowering time: March - November
Papery Whitlow-wort Paronychia chartacea Description: Stems prostate, mat-forming, branching to 8 inches long Flowering time: April - July; October
Red Bay Persea borbonia Description: Evergreen, aromatic, large shrub or tree to 60 feet tall Flowering time: Apr. - Oct.; Dec. - Feb.
Silk Bay Persea borbonia vars. humilis Description: Evergreen, aromatic shrub or small tree to 30 feet tall Flowering time: April - May
Sand Pine Pinus clausa Description: Small to medium-sized ever-green tree to about 80 feet tallFlowering time: December - February
Longleaf Pine Pinus palustrus Description: Medium or large evergreen tree to about 130 feet in height Flowering time: March - June
Woody Wireweed or Sandlace Polygonella myriophylla Description: Woody with prostate branches; forms dark green mats and can grow 2 feet tall Flowering time: April - November
Sandhill Wireweed Polygonella robusta Description: Woody, brittle shrub with smooth stems to 3 feet tall Flowering time: March - November
Bracken Fern Pteridium aquilinum var. pseudocaudatum Description: Stiff, upright branching fronds; grows up to 4.5 feet tall Flowering time: All year
Chapman Oak Quercus chapmanii Description: Semi-evergreen shrub, which grows to 10 feet, or a small tree to 45 feet Flowering time: April - May
Sand Live Oak Quercus geminata Description: Shrub, which grows to 10 feet or to large tree Flowering time: April
Scrub Oak or Archbold Oak Quercus inopina Description: Shrub, evergreen to 16 feet tall Flowering time: April
Myrtle Oak Quercus myrtifolia Description: Tree or shrub evergreen to 40 feet tall Flowering time: March - June
Scrub Palmetto Sabal etonia Description: Evergreen shrub with normally subterranean trunk; grows up to 3-4 feet tall Flowering time: May - June
Brazilian Pepper Schinus terebinthifolius Description: Small, bushy evergreen to 30 feet tall Flowering time: October
Tough Bumelia or Buckthorn Sideroxylon tenax Description: Woody evergreen shrub or small tree to 25 feet or more with milky sap Flowering time: April - August
Blue-eyed Grass Sisyrinchium xerophyllum Description: Grass-like herb to 20 inches tall Flowering time: January - June; September - November
Earleaf Greenbrier Smilax aurculata Description: Woody vine, green stems usually lacking spines; reaches about 23 feetFlowering time: April - July
Laurel Greenbrier or Bamboo Vine Smilax laurifolia Description: Evergreen, high-climbing vine with stems to about half an inch in diameter Flowering time: September - October
Spanish Moss Tillandsia usneoides Description: Grows on hosts plants without harming; hangs from branches to about 20 feet Flowering time: February - May
Tallowwood or Hog Plum Ximenia americana Description: Woody shrub or small tree to 20 feet tall or more; dark branches and sharp spinesFlowering time: September – October
Adam’s Needle Yucca filamentosa Description: Perennial shrub; flower stems up to 10 feet tallFlowering time: March - May
Beaumont’s Cup Lichen Cladonia beaumontii Description: Usually slender and hardly branched
Dixie Reindeer Lichen Cladonia subtenuis Description: Smooth with slender branches; clumps often forming mats 2-4 inches thick
Perforate Reindeer Lichen Cladonia perforata Description: Perforations at each node; very rare
Powder Puff Lichen Cladonia evansii Description: Outer edges have finer tips with closed aspect; grows in great unbroken patches
Sand Spikemoss Selaginella arenicola Description: A type of clubmoss, 6-12 inches in height
Ball Moss Tillandsia recurvata Description: Grows on hosts plants without harming; stiff, leathery, leaves 1-7 inches long-Flowering time: August – September
Beard Lichen Usnea trigosa Description: Yellow or greenish (bushy, branched) lichen with long stems and disk-shape holdfasts
NONVASCULAR PLANTS
Federal Status Endangered Threatened
State Status Endangered Threatened
invasive Species
Leaves Found in the ScrubWays to Distinguish Different Types of Leaves
Parts of a Leaf
Leaf edges
Leaf Shapes
We can distinguish different types of leaves in numerous ways; two of these ways include looking at the leaf shape and leaf edge.
bladeapex
midrib
vein
basepetiole
Most leaves have two main parts: the blade and the petiole, or leafstalk.
The blade is the broad, flat part of the leaf where photosynthesis occurs.
The petiole is the stem-like part of the leaf that joins the blade to the stem.
CORDATE DELTOID ELLIPTICAL LINEAR OVATE
OBLONG OBOVATE
ENTIRE LOBEDSERRATEDENTATESINUATE
Scrub Oak
Sand Live Oak
Chapman Oak
Myrtle Oak
American Holly
Blade is smooth around all edges•
Feather-veined (vein arise pinnately from a single mid-vein • and subdivides into veinlets)
Petioles are round and stout•
Blade varies from oval to elliptical•
Veins are impressed and feather-veined•
Petiole is short and stout•
Blade is wide and broadest above or near the middle•
Prominent network of veins•
Petiole is slender and short •
Blade is coarsely toothed, with the teeth ending in sharp • spines; leathery
Prominent middle vein•
Petiole is slender and round•
Blade is broadest near the middle•
Feather-veined•
Petioles is slender and short•
Leaf Shape: __________________
Leaf Edge: __________________
Leaf Shape: __________________
Leaf Edge: __________________
Leaf Shape: __________________
Leaf Edge: __________________
Leaf Shape: __________________
Leaf Edge: __________________
Leaf Shape: __________________
Leaf Edge: __________________Sources:“Parts of a Leaf.” World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago, 1979. Print.Swink, Floyd, and Wilhelm Gerould. “Leaf Diagram, Leaf Shapes and Leaf Edges.” Plants of the Chicago Region. 4th ed. Indianapolis: Indiana Academy of Science. Print.
NOTeS/RUbbiNgS
This project is made possible by a grant from the U. S. Institute of Museum and Library Services with additional sponsorship
from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, South Florida Community College, and Archbold Biological Station.
Sources:
Austin, Daniel. Scrub Plant Guide. Gumbo Limbo Nature Center of South Palm Beach County, 1999. Print.
Cressler, Alan. Cladonia Evansii. 2010. Photograph.
Cressler, Alan. Selaginella Arenicola. 2010. Photograph.
Hollinger, Jason. Dixie Reindeer Lichen. 2007. Photograph. Apalachicola National Forest.
Matchett, Wayne. Ball Moss. Photograph. Space Coast Wildflowers. Web.
Nelson, Gil. The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida. Sarasota, Fl: Pineapple, 1996. Print.
“Parts of a Leaf.” World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago, 1979. Print.
Pippen, Jeffrey. Brazilian Peppertree. 2008. Photograph. Plants of Florida and the Bahamas. Dec. 2008. Web.
Sharnoff, Stephen. Cladonia Beaumontii. Photograph. Archbold Biological Station. Sharnoff Photos. Web.
Sharnoff, Stephen. Cladonia Perforata. Photograph. Central Florida. Lichens of North America. Web.
Spanish Moss. 2009. Photograph. Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Comp. Camille Goodwin. Galveston County Master Gardener Association. Web.
Taylor, Walter K. Florida Wildflowers in Their Natural Communities. Gainesville: University of Florida, 1998. Print.
Weekley, Carl, Heather Lindon, and Eric Menges. “Archbold Biological Station Plant List.” Archbold Biological Station
© 2011 South Florida Community College www.waysideshrinetrail.com
Archbold Biological Station
Wildflower Wayside Shrine Trail Flora
Compiled by: Christopher Jennings, SFCC AlumniSpecies Consultant: Dr. Eric Menges, Archbold Biological StationDesign: Mollie Doctrow, Curator, SFCC MOFACFront cover photo: David WoodsBack cover photo: Ivan Delgado, SFCC StudentProduction Assistants: Shane Donglasan, SFCC Alumni Mollie Ruble, SFCC Student