Passionflower Chapter

We had gorgeous weather for our joint Passionflower/Cuplet Fern field trip to Lake Louisa State Park on December 7, 2019.  Chris Matson, the park biologist, led the 21 trip participants on a tour of the restoration areas and talked about park history and evolving efforts to restore native plant communities.

We started with a tour of the garden at the Ranger Station.  There are two parts to the garden - the butterfly garden and the habitat garden.  Started in 2003/2004 the butterfly garden is full of beautiful native plants which Passionflower members are helping to maintain.  Although trees were planted in the habitat section of the garden,  which is intended to showcase 5 upland plant communities, the understory and wildflowers/groundcover are still being planted/developed.

After the garden tour the group drove to various restoration areas.   You would think that there wouldn't be much to see in December, but there were still plants in bloom and lots of native grasses with diverse infloreescence types.  Enjoy the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEDdfhDGpDc

At the October 26th Oakland Heritage & Wildlife Festival, Passionflower chapter volunteers handed out literature and spread the word about Florida's native plants and the benefits of native plant landscaping.  The annual Oakland event, which enjoyed exceptionally good weather this year, attracted attendees from Lake and Orange county and beyond.  Chapter President, Melanie Simon, gave a presentation on Native Plants, Butterflies and Birds.  

The Warea Tract in east Lake County is a small parcel with a high biodiveristy of listed plants and limited public access.  Passionflower, Lake Beautyberry, and Tarflower FNPS Presidents (yes, three chapter Presidents!) and members helped Florida Forestry on June 29, 2019 by pulling non-native Natal Grass (a Cat I invasive).  The collected plants and seeds will be disposed of by “cooking” them in the black plastic garbage bags used for collecting, and then placing them in the regular trash.  Blooming plants observed included Stylisma abidita (dawnflower  - a tiny white morning-glory type flower that is a listed species), Skullcaps, and Roselings.  Although the Warea are yet to bloom, the group was told that plants collected at this site will be planted at Lake Louisa State Park and other conservation areas later this year.

Seven hardy Passionflower members braved the heat to do some community service while getting a dose of outdoor therapy.  The members volunteered at Lake Louisa State Park pruning, pulling weeds, and planting in the Ranger Station Garden where butterflies and dragonflies kept them company.  Among the weeds found and pulled were Category I invasives (Natal Grass, Caesar’s Weed, and Rosary Pea) and Category II invasives (Praxelis and Balsam Apple).  Volunteers left the garden, a focal point for visitors entering and leaving the park, looking much neater – well, as neat as a native plant wildflower garden can look!

A group of 15 Lake Beautyberry and Passionflower members spent a lovely Father’s Day morning hiking at Flat Island Preserve, a Lake County Water Authority property just south of Leesburg.  Patricia Burgos, an LCWA biologist and FNPS member, led the hike and provided a wealth of information about the history and management of the property and the plants the group encountered.

The first part of the hike was along a gently upsloping shaded trail.  Flat Island is surrounded by the Okahumpka Marsh, which feeds a number of lakes and the aquifer, but the trail is inland through upland hardwood hammocks.  With tall overstory trees the trail was well shaded, and there were lots of interesting understory plants including beautyberry, wild coffee, and blooming ironweed.

The highlight of the trip was seeing the wildflower meadow/sandhill restoration area where plants rescued by FNPS volunteers have been relocated in a burned and cleared pasture area.  Among the dozens of relocated plants are threatened, endemic Polygala lewtonii, scrub buckwheat, liatris, sky-blue lupine, sandhill milkweed, partridge pea, penstemon, greeneyes, and vibrant orange-blossomed standing cypress (in foreground of picture).