“Flower Friday” is a weekly profile of a different Florida native wildflower.
Whitemouth dayflower (Commelina erecta) is an erect ephemeral wildflower found in pinelands, coastal uplands and scrub habitats. It generally blooms in summer and fall, but is known to bloom year-round in South Florida. Blooms attract a variety of pollinators, especially bees. Seeds are eaten by birds, and the foliage is sometimes consumed by gopher tortoises. The plant is also edible to humans. The flowers can be eaten raw or candied. Leaves are best cooked (boiled or fried), but the young shoots and tips can be eaten raw.
Also known as Sandhill or Purple milkweed, pinewoods milkweed (Asclepias humistrata) is a robust perennial wildflower with umbels of distinct pinkish-white to pale purple flowers. Its large leaves are thick and dull grayish-green with conspicuous pink to lavender veins. Pinewoods milkweed occurs naturally in sandhills, scrub and dry, ruderal areas. It blooms in spring and summer, attracting many pollinators including wasps and butterflies, and is the larval host plant of Monarch and Queen butterflies.
Shiny blueberry (Vaccinium myrsinites) is a low evergreen shrub that flowers heavily in the spring. It occurs naturally in mesic pine flatwoods, sandhills, scrubby flatwoods, dry prairies and scrub habitats. The flowers attract a variety of pollinators. The fruits are consumed by birds and other wildlife – humans enjoy them, too!
Gulf purple pitcherplant (Sarracenia rosea) is an insectivorous perennial wildflower that blooms in spring. It occurs naturally in wet prairies, seepage slopes and roadside ditches. It is a state-listed threatened species and is found only in the Panhandle from Gadsden and Liberty counties west into Escambia County.
Swamp tickseed (Coreopsis nudata) is a short-lived perennial with charming pink and yellow blooms. It occurs naturally in wet prairies, bogs, seepage slopes, wet flatwoods and roadside ditches. It blooms in spring (typically April and May) and is attractive to bees, although butterflies and other pollinators are known to visit them. Birds eat its seeds. Swamp tickseed is often confused with the non-native Cosmos bipinnatus.
Parsley haw (Crataegus marshallii) is a deciduous flowering shrub or small tree. It occurs naturally in moist wooded slopes, floodplains and riverine forests in the Panhandle and north and west-central peninsula. Its flowers, which bloom in the spring, are an important source of nectar for a variety of pollinators. The plant is a larval food source for many butterfly and moth species, and provides food and shelter for birds and small mammals.
