Small Woodland Sunflower - Helianthus microcephalus

Small woodland sunflower (Helianthus microcephalus) is uncommon in Florida, found only in six counties in the central panhandle, but is rather wide ranging elsewhere in eastern North America. As its name implies it is most common in upland woodland edges - not in deep shade, but in sunny patches and edges of wooded areas.
This perennial herbaceous species dies back to the ground in winter and reemerges in spring.  It quickly attains a mature height of 4-6 feet by early summer and the flower stalks form at the top of these stems.  Like many native sunflowers, the basal leaves are nearly absent once it starts growing upward. The leaves along the stem are linear and opposite each other Each leaf is lance-shaped, with a few teeth along the margin and rough to the touch.  One key characteristic to distinguish it from other somewhat similar species is its very short petiole - the stem that connects the leaf blade to the main stem.
Flowering occurs in summer.  The plant above was photographed in mid-June.  This also helps distinguish it from species that bloom in late summer to fall.  Numerous flowers are produced atop the main stems, but they are only about 1-1.5 inches across. The central disc is especially small compared to our other native sunflowers and is a good diagnostic for telling it apart from other sunflowers. These bright yellow blooms are excellent for attracting pollinators and the small seeds have value for some songbirds - as with all sunflowers.
Small woodland sunflower seems to have attracted little attention among most commercial growers, but it has recently been added to the plant list of Trillium Gardens in Tallahassee. Because of its stature, small wood sunflower makes a nice accent in a border and a good long distance feature in a larger landscape. Small wood sunflower grows in full sun to filtered shade in moist to dry soils. It tends to form a mass or clump and spreads easily throughout the garden by runners and seed.  I am excited to have it being offered and we have added it to our landscape at Hawthorn Hill with the idea of evaluating it here, outside its natural range.  We do not intend to propagate it, however, and will leave that to Dan and Vanessa at Trillium Gardens.

Philadelphia Fleabane - Erigeron philadelphicus

Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) is yet another member of this genus native to Florida. It is restricted to 10 counties in the northern areas of the state, mostly in the central panhandle in and around Apalachicola National Forest, but is also is resident to nearly every state and province in North America outside of Mexico.  It occurs in a variety of open and disturbed sites of average to moist soil.
Philadelphia fleabane is mostly a biennial, sometimes a very short-lived perennial.  Its lower leaves (not pictured here) are somewhat heart shaped, but the leaves along the stem are thin and linear.  The stem is covered by rather long stiff hairs and this is one of the best clues to its identification in the field. Growth is rapid in the spring and mature plants can exceed 4 feet in height.  These, photographed in moist pine flatwoods habitat in the Apalachicola National Forest, stood well above the saw palmettos in late May.
Flowering occurs in May and early June in open panicles.  Each bloom is typical of the genus - white ray petals encircling a yellow disk, but the ray petals are numerous and quite short.  Sometimes, they are infused with pink.
All fleabanes were supposedly used at one time to ward off fleas. Philadelphia fleabane has a long association with humans as an herbal medicine.  The Cherokee and other Native American tribes used Philadelphia fleabane for a variety of medicinal purposes including epilepsy. A poultice was made from the plant to treat headaches. The roots were either made into tea or chewed to treat colds and coughs. The smoke from incense made from the plant was inhaled to treat head colds. A snuff was made and sniffed also for head colds. It was mixed with other herbs to also treat headaches and inflammation of the nose and throat. The tea was used to break fevers. The plant was boiled and mixed with tallow to make a balm that could be spread upon sores on the skin. It was used for as an eye medicine to treat “dimness of sight.” It was used as an astringent, a diuretic, and as an aid for kidneys or the gout. The Cherokee and Houma tribes boiled the roots to make a drink for “menstruation troubles” and to induce miscarriages (to treat “suppressed menstruation”). It was also used to treat hemorrhages and for spitting of blood. The Catawba used a drink from the plant to treat heart trouble.
As a garden subject, this is not as showy as some and can be a bit weedy in nature. All fleabanes are good nectar sources for small pollinators, but Philadelphia fleabane has not been offered by native plant nurseries associated with FANN  - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries.  For those of you that may want to add it to a wildflower garden, it could be easily grown by seed collected in mid to late summer.

Prairie Fleabane - Erigeron strigosus

Florida is home to seven species of native fleabanes. For most of us, their identification is difficult. Some of the clues needed are in the shape of the leaves, the timing of their blooming, and the number and shape of the white ray petals that encircle the central yellow disk.
Prairie fleabane (Erigeron strigosus) is common to the northern two-thirds of Florida in open habitats, including disturbed edges of roadways.  It also is found throughout all of North America south of the most-northern tier of Canadian provinces and a few arid states in the US Southwest.  As such, it is an extremely adaptable species.
Prairie fleabane blooms in late spring and early summer. Various sources list it as everything from an annual, biennial and perennial, but it acts more as an annual here in Florida.  Growth is rapid in spring and mature plants can reach 3 feet tall by May.  This species is characterized by linear basal leaves several inches in length.  The lower stems have small stiff hairs that are only really noticeable with a hand lens or by touching the stem lightly.  Another characteristic helpful in making the identification is that the linear leaves tend to be absent about halfway up the flower stalk.
The flowers are typical of the genus - white ray petals and a yellow central disk. Each bloom is about 1/2 inch across and there are a great many thin ray petals along the outside - more than 50 typically and, thus, more than most other species in this genus.
Prairie fleabane is one of the most attractive members of this species for use in a wildflower garden and it is sometimes offered by members of FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries.  All members of the daisy family are valuable for pollinators and fleabanes mostly serve as nectar sources for small bees and small butterflies such as hairstreaks and skippers.  Because it acts mostly like an annual, it will need some bare ground to reseed - or light mulch.

Scrubland Goldenaster - Chrysopsis subulata

Scrubland goldenaster (Chrysopsis subulata) is yet another endemic species within this distinctly Florida genus.  Out of 11 species native to Florida, six are endemic.  Though it's name would suggest otherwise, scrubland goldenaster is most common to well-drained uplands - especially xeric flatwoods and sandhills, but not scrub.  These photos were taken in early June in a sandhill area of  Brooker Creek Preserve, Pinellas County, near its intersection with Hillsborough and Pasco Counties.  Its range in Florida includes most of the north and central peninsular counties.
Like other members of this genus, the basal leaves are densely hairy and seem silvery in color because of them.  In many species, the resulting upright stems and leaves that develop later are shiny - the "hairs" are lost, but in scrubland goldenaster the hairs remain obvious on the leaves and elongating stems, though not as densely silvery as in Florida goldenaster (C. floridana).
Scrubland goldenaster is a perennial that dies back to the ground in winter, but often retains its basal leaves.  These are narrow and somewhat spatulate in shape.  The main stem grows rapidly in the spring and reaches a mature height of about 3 feet by early summer.  The thin, twisting leaves alternate along the stems and remain conspicuously hairy.
The flower buds form at the top of the stem and form an open irregular multi-stemmed panicle by June in most parts of its range.  This early bloom time is another feature that separates it from other goldenasters.  Like other members of this genus, the ray petals and central disk are golden yellow.  In this species, the ray petals are very narrow and sometimes twisted in appearance.
Goldenasters, like other members of the aster family, are excellent pollinator flowers.  Though maybe not as showy as some other, more commonly planted genera, they sometimes are offered commercially to the home gardener.  Scrubland goldenaster has not been one of those to this date, but we hope to add it at Hawthorn Hill in 2016.  Its tolerance of a variety of growing conditions should make it a relatively easy species to maintain in a typical landscape situation and its growth habit should allow it to mix well with other species. If you are interested in this species, ask us next spring.

Coastalplain Dawnflower - Stylisma patens

Coastalplain dawnflower (Stylisma patens) is common to upland habitats throughout the northern 2/3's of Florida and also occurs throughout the Southeast Coastal Plain from Louisiana to North Carolina.  Like other members of this genus (except S. aquatica), this is a thin-stemmed vine that creeps across the ground in all directions from the main stem and bears snow-white flowers.  All four of our native white-flowered upland species are most easily separated by the size and shape of their leaves.  Coastalplain dawnflower is no exception.  Unlike the others, its leaves are extremely narrow. These are members of the morning glory family and the solitary 3/4-1 inch blooms open in the morning and start to fade by afternoon.  They are pure white and remain open for only one day.  During that time, they draw the attention of a great many pollinators - especially the small bees and wasps.
Dawnflowers are not especially showy, but the sprawling mass of crystalline white flowers can be quite attractive during the late spring and early summer months. They also are not likely to attract much attention from home gardeners as their sprawling habit requires that they be given a lot of space. I am not aware that any of our native species have ever been offered for sale by members of FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries.  Despite that, I always appreciate their presence while I am hiking in Florida's uplands. Look for them.

Rugel's Hoarypea - Tephrosia rugelii

Rugel's hoarypea (Tephrosia rugelii) is endemic to Florida, but found in most counties in the peninsula as well as being reported from Jefferson County.  It is one of eight species found in Florida; a genus that can sometimes be confusing. Hoarypeas are legumes and they share the many characteristics of the family - compound leaves and flower shape, to name two.
Rugel's hoarypea is similar to Florida hoarypea (T. florida) and can be told apart mostly by the length of the petiole - the part of the leaf that attaches it to the main stem.  Rugel's hoarypea has much shorter petioles than Florida hoarypea.  Both species are common in upland well-drained sites and bloom from late spring into fall.  The specimens above were photographed in Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, not in sandhill, but where the water table often rises to the surface during wet summers.
This is a perennial that dies back to the ground in winter.  Its stems are herbaceous and they are upright, though they grow outward more than upward and extend for several feet from the root in many directions.  The compound leaves are comprised of many elliptical leaflets, ending in a sharp point.
The blooms are interesting.  The deep rosy buds open by mid-morning, producing bright white flowers. By late afternoon, these blooms turn rosy once more before closing.  This makes it easy to identify this plant as two separate species, but of course, it is not.
Tephrosias are of great interest to pollinators such as bumblebees and serve as larval food for several butterfly species - including several species of skippers.  None, however, have ever been propagated to my knowledge by any of the native plant nurseries associated with FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries.  Tephrosias, like Rugel's hoarypea would make a useful ground cover within a naturalistic mixed wildflower garden.  Perhaps someday at least one of them will be offered for that purpose.

Whitetop Aster - Oclemena reticulata

Whitetop aster, also known as pinebarren aster, (Oclemena reticulata) is one of many asters formerly included in the genus Aster, and now distinguished within a new and separate genus.  This species is the only one included in Oclemena, and it has characteristics that separate it from the many asters now included in Symphyotrichum. This species is found nearly statewide, except extreme south Florida and in states immediately north of us - Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.  It is common to open prairies and moist pine flatwoods.
Whitetop aster is a perennial that dies back to the ground in winter and quickly reemerges in the early spring.  Its many stalks reach a mature height of about 3 feet by April.  Unlike other asters, it blooms in April to early May, sets seed shortly after and then largely stays dormant the rest of the growing season.  It leaves are oval, lime green in color, with a few teeth along the margins and with deeply incised veins.  These are on thin, but stiff stems.  Whitetop aster spreads by underground rhizomes in good growing conditions and quickly forms extensive colonies.
The flowers are typical of many "asters"; the ray petals are thin and white, surrounding a central core of yellow disk flowers.  The loose panicle of blooms stands well above the foliage and attracts a diversity of pollinators.  Unlike the vast majority of other "asters", these blooms are available early in the season and therefore can be a critically/valuable resource to bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects.
Whitetop aster is only rarely available from commercial sources, despite its utility and understated beauty.  In the home landscape it requires sun and relatively moist soil - especially during the spring and summer.  It will slowly decline if kept too dry.  In the right conditions, it can become a problem because of its tendency to sucker and spread, but this can be controlled through occasional thinning.  Do not use it in small mixed wildflower beds, but in more expansive areas it provides color at a time when few other wildflowers are blooming and it becomes a magnet for bees and butterflies. I have recently collected seed of this species and we hope to make it available by fall 2015.