Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

What is special about scrub?

• Xeric, low nutrient soils• Fire dependent• Gaps are important

• Threatened habitat,plants and animals

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Rosemary Scrub

Different kinds of scrub

Sand Pine ScrubCoastal Scrub

Weirdness – Asclepias curtissii

• Unique flower structure limits pollinator types

• Unusual pollination syndrome

• Seeds dispersed by wind

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Asclepias curtissii – Pollination

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Tiny Plants – Look Closely

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Stipulicida setacea Polygala smallii

Allelopathy – Ceratiola ericoides

• Allelopathic. Releases chemicals into the soil to prevent competition

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Aromatic. Volatile oils in foliage may inhibit herbivory

Parasitic Plants – Cassytha filiformis

• Grows from seed, then forms haustoria andis parasitic on host

• Lauraceae family

• Mats may contribute to gaps in scrub

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Plants & Animals – Opuntia

• Flowers attract fumbly bugs • Cochineal insects

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Plants & Animals – Asimina tetramera

• Federally endangered

• Larval food plant forzebra swallowtail butterfly

• Edible fruits – yummy food for gopher tortoises and Florida mouse

• Pungent

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Rare Plants – Asimina tetramera

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Fire adapted. Needs a nurse plant when young. Long lived

Rare Plants – Harrissia fragrans

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Not fire adapted. Needs a nurse plant when young

Rare Plants – Dicerandra immaculata

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Pesticide spraying may limit pollinators

• Mint family

• Flower has no spots

• Limited seeddispersal

• Small range, rare and critically imperiled

Not Plants – Lichens

• Composite organisms –a fungus plus a photosynthetic partner

• Can survive extremeconditions

• Bare sand areas may create refugia during fire

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Lichens have traveled to space!

Not Plants – Cladonia perforata

• Yellowish-green color with round holes

• Unusual disjunctdistribution

• Lives on xeric, whitesand. In sand pine scrub, rosemary balds

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Federally endangered

Credits

Thanks to the following

Dr. Anne Cox; US Fish and Wildlife Service; Florida Natural Areas Inventory; Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Environmental Resources Management, Palm Beach County; University of South Florida Herbarium; Florida Native Plant Society

Photography by: Shirley Denton, Anne Cox, Ann Malatesta, Paul Rebmann, Betty Wargo, Michael Jenkins, Marjorie Shropshireand others.

Unique Plants of the Coastal Scrub

Design by Shark River Creative, Inc., Jensen Beach, Florida