Wood Germander/Sage - Teucrium canadense

Wood germander/sage (Teucrium canadense) is a very widespread member of the mint family, common throughout Florida and in nearly every state of the U.S. and province of Canada. It prefers the open sunny edges of wetlands and is most often encountered at the upper edges of marshes and wet prairies.
This is a robust perennial that dies back to the ground in winter and often reaches three feet in height by the summer months. The leaves are large - up to 4 inches long and elliptical in shape. They also are opposite along the stem, deep green, with noticeable teeth along the leaf margins.  In a lot of settings where wood germander occurs, it will stand above the other plants in the plant community.
Blooming occurs in summer and fall.  The flowers occur at the top of the stems, and blooming starts at the bottom, working upwards towards the top over several weeks. Like most mints, the flowers have a broad lower lip and two smaller upper petals. These recurve upwards and look like tiny wings. The pale lavender blooms are spotted with deep pink dots.. They are quite attractive to pollinating insects of all kinds.
Although this is an attractive wildflower with excellent value as a pollinator plant, it requires moister soil than most can give it and it suckers very aggressively when planted in the right conditions. For this reason, it is rarely propagated by any of the native plant nurseries in Florida affiliated with FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries. Although it does not play well with others in a typical landscape setting, it would be a very valuable addition to a wetland restoration one. Like other mints, it produces copious amounts of seed by early fall and should be easy to propagate if the tiny seed were scattered on the surface of soil kept moist to wet.

Beach False Foxglove - Agalinis fasciculata

There are 16 species of false foxgloves (Agalinis spp.) vouchered in Florida and most are quite difficult for even seasoned botanists to distinguish from one another. Beach false foxglove (A. fasciculata) is one of the most frequently encountered species, however, occurring statewide in a wide variety of habitats - including beach dunes, throughout the state. It also occurs throughout the eastern half of the U.S. from Texas in the west, to Kansas and Illinois in the Midwest, and to New York in the east.
False foxgloves are annuals and root parasites. As such, they require a nearby and suitable host plant shortly after germination to persist. For this reason, they are not propagated by any of the nurseries I am familiar with. I have had great success in getting seeds to germinate, for example, but no luck getting the seedlings to a size suitable for transplanting into a wildflower bed.
Growth is rapid in the spring. The plants reach their mature height of about three feet by mid-summer. In this species, the leaves are narrow and linear, about 1 inch long and appressed against the stem.
Flowering occurs in the summer to fall. Each light purple flower is about one inch long, with a deep throat speckled with darker purple dots and often with a few yellowish lines. There are five petals fused together to form the floral tube. The blooms are of particular interest to large bees such as bumblebees.
False foxgloves serve as an important host for the common buckeye butterfly.  As such, they would be a valuable addition to a mixed butterfly garden if this species were more easily propagated.  These species all produce numerous seed capsules that ripen in fall and each is filled with a great many tiny dark seeds. For anyone desiring to give this plant a try, scatter the seed on the soil surface in a mixed planting and hope for the best.

Partridge Pea - Chamaecrista fasciculata

The common partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) is found throughout Florida in a wide variety of open habitats. It also occurs throughout the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.  It prefers well-drained soils, however, and is most often encountered in open fields as well as in sandhills, dry flatwoods, and along beach dunes. It is salt tolerant. 
Plants emerge from the seed bank mostly in early spring and mature rapidly. Unlike its close cousin, sensitive pea (C. nictitans), partridge pea is a rather low-growing species - rarely standing more than two feet tall at maturity.  The leaves and stems are glabrous (without hairs) and the leaflets are not sensitive to touch, though they tend to close up in the evening and reopen the next day. Each leaf is composed of a great many oval leaflets.
Flowering generally occurs in summer and fall. The bright yellow flowers are composed of five unequally sized petals and often have a red mark at their base - as seen in the above photographs.  The flowers are mostly bee pollinated and seem to be especially of interest to bumblebees.  As the common name suggests, the ripened seeds are a favorite food source for ground-feeding birds such as doves and quail.
Partridge pea is a favorite plant among butterfly gardeners as it serves as a larval host plant for at least three species of sulfur butterflies as well the ceraunus blue.  Because of this, it is often propagated by native plant nurseries. As an annual, however, it must be allowed to reseed if it is to persist. This is rarely a problem, however, and most gardeners find that they have to thin the new seedlings out a bit if they are using it in a mixed planting bed.  As flowering occurs over a long number of months, it is usually easy to find some seed along a roadside (never collect in protected areas) and sow them yourself.

Sensitive pea - Chamaecrista nictitans

Partridge peas are annuals that serve as larval hosts for several sulfur butterflies when in bloom. They also serve as the host plant for the gray hairstreak and ceraunus blue. Of the seven species recorded for Florida, four are native and two of these are widespread throughout the state. Sensitive pea (Chamaecrista nictitans) is one of these.  Two varieties have been described based on the presence or absence of hairs along the leaf stems. The one photographed above is C. nictitans var. aspera. 
Sensitive pea occurs in a wide variety of open habitats. As a somewhat "weedy" species, it is most often encountered in disturbed sites, along trails, and at the edge of roadsides, but it also can be seen in flatwoods and dry prairie habitats.  It is recorded throughout much of the eastern U.S. - from Arizona in the west and in all of the Eastern and Midwestern states to the Atlantic.
This is a robust plant and may reach four feet tall at maturity. The stems are somewhat woody in appearance and it produces numerous upright branches. As in other members of the legume family, the leaves are compound. Each is about 2 inches long with a great many narrow leaflets. What separates this from other members of the genus is that they are touch sensitive. The leaflets fold when touched - as can be seen in the above photograph. They also close as evening approaches and open again the next morning - a phenomenon known as a "sleep movement." 
Sensitive pea has smaller yellow flowers than its frequently encountered cousin - partridge pea (C. fasciculata). The blooms also do not fully open in the same way. They are composed of five unequally sized petals. 
Sensitive pea is an important host plant for butterfly gardeners, but is weedy and has a tendency to spread - making it a poor player in small mixed wildflower plantings. Perhaps for that reason, it is very infrequently offered for sale by nurseries affiliated with the Florida Association of Native Nurseries (FANN).  It is easy to grow from seed, however. As it remains in flower for most of the growing season, the small hairy seed pods can also be found in most months. If you wish to grow it from seed, scatter them on the soil surface. You won't need very many to get it established.

Shrubby False Buttonweed - Spermacoce verticillata

Although this blog is devoted to Florida NATIVE plants, I have from time to time posted about a nonnative that is widely seen in natural areas. This is one of them. Woodland false buttonweed (Spermacoce verticillata) occurs throughout peninsular Florida in a wide variety of open habitats. I photographed these at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park in Okeechobee County. It is classified as a Class II invasive plant by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC). Of the eight species vouchered for Florida, six are natives. All are considered "weeds" due to their habit of spreading quickly in disturbed locations.
This species is well-visited by pollinating insects and its numerous flower heads produce large amounts of seed. Most species in this genus are low growing, but shrubby false buttonweed becomes almost woody and reaches a mature height of about 2-3 feet. It is a perennial. The foliage is narrowly elliptical, deep green and shiny. Flowering can occur during nearly every month if temperatures do not go below freezing.
Although it would be a reasonable addition to a pollinator garden, its cultivation should be avoided - especially in areas anywhere near a natural area.

Carolina Goldenrod - Solidago arguta var. caroliniensis

Flowers

Flower Close Up

Stems

Goldenrods (Solidago spp.) are often difficult for the average wildflower enthusiast to identify to species. Their bright golden flowers are dead giveaways to bring you to the genus level, but after that it can get confusing. This could be the case for this one, Carolina goldenrod (S. arguta var. caroliniensis) without a close look at its foliage and the arrangement of its flowers during its summer bloom time.

Lower leaf

Two years ago, I was fortunate to purchase a couple of specimens from Marc Godts at Green Isles Nursery in the Groveland area of central Florida and these photos come from the plants I added to my wildflower garden. This species has been vouchered in most Florida counties in the northern third of the state. This variety also is widespread throughout the states of the Southeast - from Missouri and Louisiana to Maryland south along the Atlantic coast. Other varieties of this species occur as far west as Texas, through much of the Midwest and throughout the Eastern Seaboard, including populations in Quebec. Yet, despite its extensive range, very little seems to have been written about it. It is not mentioned in any of the Florida wildflower books that I own, for example.
It is reported that it occurs mostly in areas of woodland openings, such as outcrops or clearings. In my landscape, it has not been fussy about growing conditions. I have them planted in average, Florida sandy soil in full sun. It is a perennial, like other members of this genus, and dies back to the ground in winter. In spring, it forms a basal rosette of rather large oval leaves that are slightly toothed. These tend to die back, however, as the flower stalks extend in early summer. Eventually, the plants reach about 3 feet in height. The leaves and the stems are slightly "hairy" and the upper leaves along the stems become smaller and more elliptical. The ones in these photographs are about 1 inch in length. Often, the stems are somewhat reddish as well.
Flowering occurs in mid-summer, before most of the other goldenrods bloom in my landscape. A great many open panicles form at the top of the main stem and small heads of about 20 flowers occur along each side stem. This aspect, as shown in these photos above, is diagnostic for any of Florida's native goldenrods that I've encountered - or grown. The flowers are a more-lemon yellow color than most others as well.
Like other members of this genus, the blooms are especially attractive to pollinating insects. It is a wonder to me that more species are not routinely available from native nurseries here in Florida and I feel fortunate that Marc chose to propagate a few that year. Many goldenrods make poor additions to a mixed wildflower garden because they sucker extensively and I have been looking for and propagating/growing as many as I can find in order to"weed out" those aggressive species. So far, Carolina goldenrod has played well with its neighbors in my landscape. It is easy to propagate from seed and I hope to add it to the plants I offer next spring at Hawthorn Hill.

Lower Stem

Peninsula Axilflower - Mecardonia acuminata

Peninsula axilflower (Mecardonia acuminata) is a very common wildflower in the understory of moist open habitats throughout Florida. The photos above reflect the subspecies P. acuminata subsp. peninsularis, which is a Florida endemic and found throughout much of central and south Florida. Other subspecies are found in Florida as well. Subspecies M. acuminata subsp. microphylla is a rare form vouchered only from Washington and Calhoun Counties in north Florida while subspecies M. acuminata subsp. acuminata is widespread in north-central and north Florida. The differences lie in the leaf shape and that is reflected in their various subspecies names. The species also is widespread throughout much of the eastern U.S.; its range extending from Texas to the west, north to Illinois, and east to Maryland.
This diminutive ground cover is easily overlooked by the casual hiker. It rarely stands more than 6 inches tall and grows mostly prostrate across the ground.  As such, it sends up multiple stems with dark green elliptical leaves. The subspecies photographed above, has noticeable teeth on the leaf margins. Each is about 1 inch long.  Peninsula axilflower is a perennial.
Flowering occurs from late spring to late fall.  The small tubular white flowers are produced near the tips of each stem and are horizontal to the plane of the ground below. Distinct purple lines are noticeable along the outside of the petals.  The flowers are about 1/2 inch in length.They seem to be of most interest to bees.
Peninsula axilflower, is almost ubiquitous to the edges of wet habitats in Florida, but it has never been propagated, to my knowledge, for wetland restoration projects by any of the native plant nurseries affiliated with FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries. Perhaps it is simply not showy enough or too diminutive to warrant that kind of attention, but I always enjoy seeing it when hiking in its preferred habitats.