Mining bees (Andrenidae) are a diverse family and some of the first bees to fly come spring. But if you don’t see them in the air, you can usually spot their conspicuous nest entrances on the ground marked by mounds of excavated soil.
The Florida Wildflower Foundation provides scholarships for master’s students studying wildflowers within the University of Florida’s Plant Restoration and Conservation Horticulture Consortium of the Department of Environmental Horticulture in Gainesville. Scholarship students are advised by Dr. Hector Perez, associate professor. Luis Andres Ochoa studies Sand flax (Linum arenicola), a perennial with a small yellow flower and grasslike leaves endemic to South Florida and listed as an endangered species.
Want to help preserve the Panhandle’s roadside wildflowers? Plan to join the Florida Wildflower Foundation for the annual meeting of the Panhandle Wildflower Alliance Nov. 6.
Thanks to a $7,000 grant from Duke Energy, Central Florida students soon will be learning about the natural world through Wild About Wildflowers! Activity Kits. Through the kits, more than 3,000 third- and fourth-graders will learn about native wildflowers, their ecosystems, and their environmental significance while achieving Florida education standards.
Heartwood Preserve is the first conservation cemetery within a nature preserve in the Tampa Bay area. Join us on this unique opportunity to learn about the efforts to conserve and permanently protect this endangered natural habitat through environmentally friendly burial options. Visit longleaf pine flatwoods and cypress wetlands. Learn the land’s history and management, the importance of fire ecology and the process of conservation burial.
Trying to identify that wildflower you found in your yard or on a field trip? The USF Atlas of Florida Plants is a terrific source of native wildflower and plant information where you can dig into a treasure of images and specimens, and it’s just a few mouse clicks away.
Dr. Walter Taylor presents at the 2014 Florida Wildflower Symposium.