“Flower Friday” is a weekly profile of a different Florida native wildflower.
Spurred butterfly-pea is a trailing or climbing vine that occurs naturally in pine flatwoods, sandhills, coastal strands and interdunal swales. Its showy flowers typically bloom in summer, but can bloom spring through fall, or year-round in South Florida. Spurred butterfly-pea flowers are papilionaceous, meaning they are butterfly-shaped and highly specialized to allow for bee pollination. The plant is also the larval host for Northern cloudywing and Long-tailed skipper butterflies.
Fewflower milkweed is a delicate perennial wildflower found in swamps and moist to wet pinelands and prairies throughout Florida. Its stunning orange to red flowers typically bloom late spring through fall.
Soft greeneyes (Berlandiera pumila) is a perennial herbaceous wildflower found in sandhills and pinelands throughout the Panhandle and north Florida. It blooms in spring and summer and attracts a variety of pollinators, including butterflies, bees and wasps.
Bartram’s rosegentian is a dazzling pink wildflower found naturally in wet pinelands, freshwater marshes, pond margins and in wet ditches. It blooms late spring into late summer or early fall.
Carolina horsenettle is a perennial wildflower that occurs naturally in pastures, disturbed sites and along roadsides. It blooms throughout the summer and is pollinated primarily by bumble bees, although many insects are known to visit the flower. Some birds, such as quail and wild turkey, eat its fruit.
Also known as Hat pins and Bog buttons, Tenangle pipewort (Eriocaulon decangulare) is a wildflower easily recognized by its many white buttonlike flowers. It occurs naturally in bogs, wet prairies, freshwater marshes, wet pine flatwoods and cypress swamp edges and typically blooms late spring through fall.
