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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

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Polk

64West College Drive

27

6698

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TRAIL Wayside Shrine

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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