Florida National Forests

THE name "Florida," given to this peninsula by Ponce de Leon in 1513, was most appropriate. At all seasons some plants are in bloom and during most of the year there are myriads of flowers. A few of the most interesting and conspicuous plants to be found on Florida national forests are given in the following list. They are grouped under the forest on which they are most common, but are not necessarily limited to that area.

CHOCTAWHATCHEE

CONRADINA (Conradina puberula), a small shrub of the mint family with grayish foliage and pale blue flowers which blossom in the spring.

SCARLET FALSE-BASIL (Clinopodium coccineum) is another shrub of the mint family characterized by its straggly form and scarlet flowers which are produced yearlong.

FLORIDA GOLDENWEED (Aplopappus pauciclosculosus, syn., Chrysoma pauciflosculosa). This peculiar evergreen shrub, closely related to goldenrod occurs in sandy soil.

FRINGETREE (Chionanthus virginica) occurs scattered over the dry pine-oak ridges and is very conspicuous when in flower, becoming a mass of lacy white blossoms,

RED-STAR ANISE (Illicium floridanum) is an attractive broad-leaved evergreen shrub of the magnolia family occurring along streams and in hammocks. It bears rather small, dark red, pendulous, ill-scented flowers.

KALMIA OR MOUNTAIN LAUREL (Kalmia latifolia) so common in the Applachian highlands appears in limited areas through west Florida, including the Choctawatchee National Forest.

FLOWERING DOGWOOD (Cornus fiorida), another common shrub or small tree of the northeastern United States, also occurs in Florida, being found in hammocks and rich woods, often along streams.

MEADOWBEAUTY (Rhexia alifanus) is a large species of this attractive genus of perennial herbs bearing purple flowers about 1 inch long. It grows in moist pineland clearings and along the margins of ponds. There are several other species of meadowbeauty, which are characteristic of Florida flora.

OCALA

FLAG PAWPAW (Asimina obavata, syn., Pityothamnus obavatus), a relative of the common pawpaw; differs in certain botanical characteristics; is usually a low shrub, smaller and with somewhat leathery leaves; grows in the dry sandy soil of the scrub. The large, white flowers are pendulous.

COONTIE (Zamia integrifolia) is found in the scrub. This very interesting plant has thick evergreen, fernlike leaves and fruiting cones resembling ears of corn about 6 inches long. This genus is among the most primitive living seed plants and the only genus of this ancient group of plants native to the United States. Coontie was used by the Seminoles and early Florida aborigines as food. The starchy underground stem was the main source of flour. It is the source of "Florida arrowroot."

SANDHEATH (Ceratiola ericoides), locally but erroneously known as rosemary, is a shrub which also grows in the scrub, or dry pinelands, and on sand hills, often in very acid soil. The plant has a heathlike or sprucelike aspect, the attractive dark evergreen leaves are very narrow, revolute, and needle-like.

AMERICAN BEAUTYBERRY (Callicarpa americana), frequently known as French mulberry, occurs in the hammocks and is quite conspicuous in autumn when the whorled clusters of pinkish violet berries ripen.

HERB CORALBEAN OR CARDINALSPEAR (Erythrina herbacea) is an herbaceous legume which grows in pinelands and hammocks and bears terminal racemes of bright scarlet flowers.

TARFLOWER (Befaria racemosa) is an evergreen shrub of the flatwoods and pond margins; very common on the Osceola National Forest. It is an attractive plant when in flower and is an outlier of a genus typically Mexican-South American.

GARBERIA (Garberia fruticosa) is a member of the thistle or composite family and grows in the scrub. It is a much-branched evergreen shrub which bears rose-purple flowers in November.

RED BUCKEYE (Aesculus pavia), a shrub or small tree having palmately compound leaves and bearing handsome panticles of red flowers, common in Florida and along the Gulf coast, is found in the hammock at Bill's Branch on the shore of Lake George.

CAROLINA-JESSAMINE, also known as YELLOW JESSAMINE (Gelsemium sempervirens), is an evergreen vine growing generally throughout the State in hammocks, swamps, and along streams, and is one of Florida's most attractive plants. It blossoms abundantly in late winter and early spring: the flowers are large, deep yellow, and very fragrant.

PRICKLYPEARS (Opuntia spp.). Numerous species of this genus of cacti occur throughout Florida. They are often found in old abandoned fields and attain a height of several feet. Most species are doubly armed, bearing spines which arise from clusters of bristles. The flowers are very attractive, white or yellow in color.

WATERLILIES, of which AMERICAN WATERLILY (Castalia odorata) and (C. minor) are examples, are attractive water plants common in shallow ponds and ditches.

WATER-HYACINTH (Piaropus crassipes) is the most showy, especially when massed, of Florida's water plants. It is free-floating and carried by water currents or driven about by the wind. The delicate pinkish or bluish purple flowers are borne in spikes.

This is but a beginning of a list of Florida plants. Members of the heath family are numerous. Aquatic and marsh plants are many. The cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto) and scrub palmettos—saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor)—are widespread in different associations throughout Florida. There are also several species of holly, cherry laurel, wild olive, air-plants (Tillandsia), and numerous orchids and herbaceous plants.