Ciliate Wild Petunia - Ruellia ciliosa

Ciliate wild petunia (Ruellia ciliosa) is another species with some taxonomic discrepencies.  Wunderlin and Hansen list it as a distinct species, but many others consider it merely a subspecies of the common wild petunia (R. caroliniensis).  In my humble opinion, it seems distinct enough to warrant species status.

Regardless, it occurs throughout much of north and central Florida in xeric open habitats - with a record also from Lee County in southwest Florida. Outside the state, it has been reported from Texas to North Carolina.

Ciliate wild petunia tends to grow close to the ground.  Its foliage often consists of little other than a rosette of basal leaves, and as the Latin and common names indicate, the leaves are covered with noticeable hairs.  They are also commonly purplish in color, not green as in R. caroliniensis.

Flowering occurs from late spring through fall.  Like its close relative, they remain open for only a day before wilting. They are also the same size (about 1 inch in diameter). What separates them is that the color is nearly always very pale - almost white. Even with the flowers open, plants are rarely more than 3-4 inches tall.

Ciliate wild petunia has never been listed commercially by FANN, the Florida Association of Native Nurseries, in the 20+ years I have been active in Florida plants, but I have run across it from time to time in batches of typical wild petunia being sold.  It seems to be more touchy than its more-common relative to growing conditions; persisting best if given well-drained sandy soils and high light levels.

Look for it as you hike Florida's sandhills and xeric flatwoods, but it may be difficult to find once the day's flowers have wilted in the afternoon. 

Smooth Yellow False Foxglove - Aureolaria flava

Smooth yellow false foxglove (Aureolaria flava) is found throughout much of the Panhandle and south along the western half of the peninsula to Hillsborough County.  It also occurs throughout much of the eastern half of the U.S and in Ontario.  Throughout this range, it occurs in sunny well-drained soils.

False foxgloves are members of the broomrape family, though at times they have been included in the snapdragon family. A look at their flowers and flower buds shows this relationship clearly.  Smooth false foxglove is a perennial (possibly a root parasite of other plants), vine-like forb whose stem may reach more than 3 feet in length. The sheer weight of this structure causes the stem to bend, and it is supported by nearby vegetation.  The leaves are shiny green, opposite on the stem, and oval with a pointed tip.  From a distance, these plants may look a bit like climbing yellow jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), but that similarity is quickly lost when the plant is seen up close. 

Flowering occurs along the length of the stem in summer and early fall.  The flowers are nearly 3/4 inch in diameter and canary yellow in color.  Tubular in structure, they have 5 fused petals.  Their large size makes them most attractive to large pollinators - such as bumblebees.

Look for this plant in sandhills and open dry woodlands in early fall, but don't expect to find it offered for sale commercially. Its large size and growth habit make it a difficult plant to keep in a nursery setting and a tough sell to folks looking for wildflowers for a more traditional garden planting.  This species has been reported as one of the larval food plants for the beautiful Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly in New England, but it is not recorded for butterflies in Florida, like the common buckeye, that use other members of this family.  Perhaps they do and it simply has not been recorded yet.

Piedmont or Few Flower Blazing Star - Liatris pauciflora var. secunda

Piedmont or Few flower blazing star (Liatris pauciflora var. secunda) is a species for which little has been written.  The plants photographed above occurred on the back dunes and coastal strand scrub at Topsail Beach Preserve State Park in Walton County.  Its status as a recognizable variety is given by Wunderlin and Hansen, our state's most recognized plant taxonomists, but it is not recognized by others.  Overall, the variety of this species occurs in the farthest six counties of Florida. The species, including this variety, has been reported in much of north and central Florida - as well as the Southeastern Coastal Plain from Alabama to North Carolina.

This is a species adapted to harsh, well-drained conditions that experience salt spray.  Like all blazing stars, it is a perennial that dies back to the ground each winter and emerges in spring.  On the beach dunes, it tends to sprawl along the sand instead of standing upright.  On the back dunes, it often adopts a more upright manner.  Mature specimens reach a height of about 2-3 feet.  The lower leaves are arranged somewhat like a Christmas tree and do not reach the height of the flower buds - as they do in Chapman's blazing star (L. chapmanii), for example.

Flowering occurs in late summer and very early fall - a bit earlier than many other blazing stars.  As the common and Latin names imply, the flowers are not densely arranged on the stalk and as the varietal Latin name implies, they tend to occur mostly on only one side of the stem.

Piedmont blazing star has never been offered commercially by members of FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries, but it would be an excellent candidate given its salt tolerance and its typical blazing star aesthetics.  This would be an excellent candidate for beach dune restoration plantings and one can only hope that someone will offer it for those purposes someday in the future.

Carolina Milkweed - Asclepias cinerea

Carolina milkweed (Asclepias cinerea) is a species of the Southeast Coastal Plain, occurring from South Carolina to Mississippi.  In Florida, it is restricted to the Panhandle and northern counties, south to Marion and Levy Counties.  Throughout its range, it is native to well-drained uplands - principally longleaf pine sandhills.

Carolina milkweed is a difficult plant to spot in the understory when not in bloom.  After emerging in the spring, it becomes a thin-stemmed plant about 2 feet tall, with narrow linear leaves several inches long and opposite on the stem.  Its thin aspect and general lack of noticeable foliage allows it to remain mostly undetected in the wiregrass-dominated understory it typically grows in.

Flowering changes that.  Though the flower clusters are loosely arranged on the ends of the stems and relatively few buds are produced, each flower is about 1/2 inch across and noticeable.  The weight of these blooms is enough to make most stems bend over a bit.  The flowers are a unique shade white, tinged with grey-purple and the sepals open into a star-like pattern and don't curl backwards like many other species in this genus. Flowering typically occurs in early summer, but these plants, photographed at Torreya State Park, were all in full bloom the late August/early September.

Florida is blessed with 21 species of native milkweeds, but very few are currently propagated commercially, despite great interest from butterfly gardeners seeking native larval plants for monarch and queen butterflies to replace the non-native scarlet milkweed (A. curassavica). Carolina milkweed is just one of many interesting species that have been ignored to date. Hopefully that will change.  Given well-drained soils and plenty of sun, it should prosper in landscapes throughout its natural range.  I have never grown this species personally, so I do not know if this range could be extended significantly.

Spurred Butterfly Pea - Centrosema virginianum

Spurred butterfly pea (Centrosema virginianum) is the most common butterfly pea in Florida, occurring statewide in a variety of upland habitats.  It is primarily a species of the Southeast, but specimens occur into the Midwestern state of Illinois and into the Eastern Seaboard as far north as New Jersey - where it is an endangered species.

Like other members of this genus, spurred butterfly pea is a perennial vine with a weak stem that winds its way through adjacent vegetation.  It does not have tendrils, but coils its stem around neighboring plants to gets its flowers upright and above the ground.  Each of these stems emerges in the spring from the base and may reach 6-8 feet in length.

One difference between this species and its much rarer relative (C. arenicola) is the leaf shape.  Though variable, spurred butterfly pea tends to have narrower leaves.  These leaves are comprised of three leaflets that are alternate along the winding stems.

Like all members of this genus, the flowers are a rich purple to light lavender, with a strongly keeled lower calyx lobe. Because the flowers open "upside down", this lobe is above the bifurcated upper lobe. 

A white patch, striped with purple, guides nectaring insects to the nectar source beneath the keeled lobe above. The flowers occur mostly in summer and plants are in bloom for many weeks.

Spurred butterfly pea is an attractive wildflower that also serves a purpose in the butterfly garden. It is the larval food plant for long-tailed and northerrn cloudywing skippers. Despite this, I have not seen it offered historically by anyone associated with FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries. In fairness, it is a difficult species to keep in a nursery because of its tendency to scramble everywhere and tangle itself in every adjacent plant nearby.  It is easy to grow from seed, however, collected as the pea-like pods ripen and split.  Spurred butterfly pea is tolerant of a wide variety of growing conditions, but should be kept on a fence or trellis in a small garden setting.  If the planting is large enough, it could be allowed to vine on larger upright species such as goldenrods and blazing stars. If you see this species, you can also simply admire its beauty - and look for butterflies alightng on it to lay their eggs.

Cutleaf Morning Glory - Merremia dissecta

There seems to be some debate among plant taxonomists as to whether cutleaf morning glory (Merremia dissecta) or Noyau vine is native to Florida or not.  Most of my references list it as a native species, but Dr.'s Wunderlin and Hansen disagree and list it as a non-native on the website sponsored by the Institute of Systematic Botany (ISB) at the University of South Florida.  Regardless of its status, it is found in upland sites nearly statewide in Florida, and across the Deep South from Georgia to Texas.  It also occurs in Puerto Rico and Cuba.
It is a perennial vine that dies back to the ground in winter. Like most morning glories, it quickly reestablishes itself in spring and spreads in all directions quite aggressively using its tendrils to climb and clamber over everything within 6 feet or more from the main stem.  For this reason, it is often considered a nuisance despite its very attractive flowers.
Flowering occurs throughout much of the summer and fall.  Like all morning glories, each bloom opens for only one morning before fading. The flowers are a bright white with a rose-red throat and about 1 inch across.  They attract a wide assortment of pollinators.  The pollinated flowers form large brown seed capsules with the woody sepals still attached like wings behind them.  This gives them the appearance of flowers long after the real ones have faded.
The foliage of cutleaf morning glory is also very distinctive.  They are palmately lobed - like the fingers on a hand, and each lobe is lobed too.  As the Latin name indicates, the leave margins are dissected.
This species has never been offered for sale, to my knowledge, by any nursery affiliated with FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries and it is unlikely to be in the future.  Because of its aggressive nature, cutleaf morning glory is difficult to contain in any kind of managed landscape. If you want to attempt it, make sure to keep it on a sturdy chain link fence or similar structure, plant it in a sunny location and make sure it has good drainage. Seed from mature seed capsules is relatively easy to germinate.

Saltmarsh Morning Glory - Ipomoea sagittata

Saltmarsh morning glory (Ipomoea sagittata) is one of many showy native morning glories in Florida.  It is found nearly statewide, but concentrated in the coastal counties and absent from some of the interior ones. This is a member of the flora of the Southeast Coastal Plain and occurs in the lower tier of states from Texas to North Carolina.  Throughout this range, it is most abundant near coastal areas.
Saltmarsh morning glory is especially salt tolerant.  The plants photographed above were prospering at the edge of a saltern community with very high salt concentrations.  Although it is well suited to life in a salt marsh, this species occurs in inland habitats if the soils are wet.
Saltmarsh morning glory is a perennial that dies back to the ground in the winter if temperatures get below freezing. In spring, it rapidly spreads in all directions, its typical vining tendrils latching onto all of the adjacent vegetation and climbing upwards.  Each of its many stems may reach 6 feet or more in length.  The leaves are quite distinctive.  As the Latin name implies, they are shaped like an arrowhead.
Flowering can occur in nearly any month if temperatures remain above freezing.  Each bloom is deep pink in color with a slightly deeper pink throat - and about 3 inches across.  They may occur singly or in small clusters of 2-3. As with all members of this genus, flowers open in the morning and typically wilt by mid-day.  They attract a wide assortment of pollinators, but especially bees. Pollinated flowers form rounded seed capsules (like the ones pictured in the middle photograph) which eventually ripen to black or dark brown before splitting open.
Though very showy, I am not aware of anyone propagating this species commercially.  It is a tough species to contain in a landscape and can eventually become a nuisance.  It is easy to grow from seed, however.  Seed might be found in nearly any month. If you wish to try it, make sure you give it a fence or trellis to climb on, give it wet soil, and make sure you keep new seedlings from spreading to areas where it would not be welcome.