Let’s Go For A Walk
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It is a little cooler than expected this morning. The dirt of the old logging road is somewhat damp and it readily clings to the soles of our shoes. A path leading to the north is fringed with tall grass and our pant legs are immediately soaked as we veer off the track to look at a lavender wild petunia. Mourning Dove are cooing in the oak trees and a diminutive Downy Woodpecker hops along a limb stopping frequently to peck at the rugged bark to uncover a morsel for breakfast. From deep within the forest, a Barred Owl asks its eternal question: “Who-Who-Who-Cooks-For-You?“.
The illusion of cool air has turned into the reality of a sub-tropical Florida summer day. As we probe several different pathways we once again marvel at how subtle changes in location provide such different samples of flora. The screech of a Red-shouldered Hawk alerts the neighborhood to our presence. Flowers don’t care if we are here and the nectar-seeking insects are on a life-supporting mission so they tend to ignore us. Except for the horse-flies and mosquitoes who have a different target – us.
Breakfast among the Longleaf Pines is leisurely. We hope you don’t mind just fresh fruit today.
Let’s see what’s around the next bend.
Although not necessarily abundant, the Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) tends to occur in small groups whenever we do find it. Also called Carolina Wild Petunia, it is not related to actual petunias. The latter are in the nightshade (Solanaceae) family while the Wild Petunia is a member of the Acanthus family.
Insects looking for a nectar fix love the densely packed florets atop the Rosy Camphorweed (Pluchea baccharis). Home garden marketers describe this plant as having a “pleasant citrus-like aroma”. Huh. Here, crush this leaf and take a sniff. More like moth balls. Thank goodness it’s beautiful to look at.
Adult Delta Flower Scarabs (Trigonopeltastes delta) feed on pollen and nectar. At times, these beetles will be so numerous it’s hard to see an acutal flower.
Usually growing as a single stem, the Roundpod St. John’s-Wort (Hypericum cistifolium) can reach 2-3 feet in height, sometimes with several 5-petal blooms at the top of the stem. The unique leaf structure helps with field identification.
One of the small orange-colored members of the grass skipper family, a Southern Broken-Dash (Polites otho) is quite happy probing this Nuttall’s Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii) for some juice.
It’s hard to NOT love all our butterflies, but the large ones do seem to attract more oohs and aahs. Like this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Pterourus glaucus). Ooh. Aah.
Perhaps not as showy as its slightly larger and brighter Tiger cousin, a Palamedes Swallowtail (Pterourus palamedes) is worthy of at least an “ooh“.
At the opposite end of “flashy butterflies” is the skipper who may define “drab”, Horace’s Duskywing (Erynnis horatius). Horace is just fine with being nondescript, especially when it comes to being noticed by would-predators. (“Hey! Look over there at that big colorful Swallowtail!)
Speaking of which, another of our large dark swallowtails is the Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus). These butterflies lay eggs exclusively on plants in the Lauraceae family (Magnolia Order), which includes Spicebush (Lindera bezoin); Sassafras (Sassafras albidum); Sweet Bay (Magnolia virginiana); and Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipfera).
Growing in wet areas on slender stems, the Pineland Waterwillow (Justicia angusta) can reach 3-4 feet tall. It’s very small pink flowers attract several different pollinators. It is a near-endemic of Florida.
Sandweed (Hypericum fasciculatum) is one of the wetland species of St. John’s-wort. It is also known as Peelbark St. John’s-wort due to the tendency of its reddish bark to peel as the plant matures.
One of the most abundant flowering plants we encountered today was the lovely purple Winged Loosestrife (Lythrum alatum). Seems like every flower had a bug of some sort on it. And there were a LOT of flowers!
Blackeyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). Common bloom. Uncommon beauty.
A medium size skipper we have only enountered a few times, this Northern Cloudywing (Cecropterus pylades) is enjoying a visit to a (surprise!) Nuttall’s Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii).
Gini’s sharp eyes spotted some different thistle activity. A daycare center! In this case, a new batch of Eastern Leaf-footed Bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus).
Sometimes called Duck Potato, the Bulltongue Arrowhead (Sagittaria lancifolia) was thriving in most of the damp areas we encountered today.
Endemic to Florida, we found a few patches of bright Yellow milkwort (Senega rugelii). Interestingly, the seeds of this plant are spread almost exclusively by ants.
Evolving to resemble a Monarch, the Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) is, like the Monarch, toxic to predators. This type of mimicry is known as Mullerian mimicry, where both subjects likely evolved to look like each other for better overall protection.
The lovely Spurred Butterfly Pea (Centrosema virginianum) is a vine which is fairly common around our pine forest edges. It is a host plant for the Northern Cloudywing butterfly shown above.
Attractive to a large number of pollinators, bright yellow blooms of Smallfruit Beggarticks (Bidens mitis) can be very abundant around the edges of wet areas.
Brilliant pink flowers with a yellow star shape outlined in red at the base identifies the Largeflower Rosegentian (Sabatia grandiflora). Another near-endemic of Florida, it’s been reported in one county in Alabama.
Open in the morning, closing later in the day. That describes the morning glory family. Although we are quite a distance from salt water, this is the stunning Saltmarsh Morning Glory (Ipomoea sagittata). Turns out, it is just fine with freshwater marshes and damp places of almost any sort. The species epithet sagittata is Latin for “arrow-shaped” and refers to the leaf shape.
With just fruit for breakfast, we’re sure you won’t mind if we stop at our favorite barbecue place for some lunch. It has been a pleasure to have you with us on today’s walk. Let’s do it again soon.
Enjoy your search for a natural place and come back for a visit!
Our Natural Places 
Whoever chose the scientific name Trigonopeltastes delta apparently had a thing for triangles. Not only is a trigon a polygon with three sides, i.e. a triangle, but the Greek capital letter delta also has the shape of a triangle. Your picture clearly shows the triangularity of the insect’s thorax.
I see from a range map that the Pluchea we have in central Texas, P. odorata, is found in most of Florida’s counties. Have you run across it?
I like how the pineland waterwillow flower has at its center a white design that could pass for the outline of a plant. The spurred butterfly pea flower likewise has a white design that could be botanical.
The nymph of the leaf-footed bug doesn’t yet have the prominent leaf-foot that your first picture of the species shows.
The beginning of Bejaria racemosa may make you think of San Antonio and Bexar (Béjar) County.
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