Cuplet Fern - Frond Forumcupletfern.fnpschapters.org/data/uploads/newsletters/... · 2016. 5. 14....

Frond ForumFlorida Native Plant Society

Cuplet Fern Chapter :: Seminole County

2014–15 BoardPresident:Beth JacksonVice President:Sherry WilliamsSecretary:Christine BrownTreasurer:Susan Blount-AngermeierChapter Representative:Neta Villalobos-BellMembership:Megan WeeksBoard Member:Barbara Whittier

2014–15 CommitteesWebmaster:VacancyFacebook:Shari KingNewsletter:Kathleen Poole Meetup:Deborah GreenPlant Propagation Coordinator:Jane Miller

Cuplet Fern ChapterFlorida Native Plant SocietyPO Box 150021Altamonte Springs, FL 32715

Meeting Location:200 Fairmont DriveSanford, FL 32773

Volume 6, Number 1 :: January – March 2016

Cuplet Fern Chapter Supports Kids House of SeminoleLooking to enhance and transform the perimeter of property beyond the pond at Kids House into a wildlife habitat, Bonnie Rizzo, Executive Support Manager, called on our chapter for native plant recommendations. Working together, considering soil type, soil moisture, slope, shade/sun, plant size, space limitations, plant characteristics, and required maintenance, a plan was developed. Bonnie next coordinated with Eagle Scout Klayton Killough for fund-raising and plant installation. In addition to a $100 donation for plants from Cuplet Fern Chapter, Klayton secured a $200 donation from his troop. This amount allowed us to purchase all the plants for the project. Plants were provided by Green Isle Nursery in Groveland. For installation, Klayton took the lead recruiting other Eagle Scouts, friends, church members, and parents. After a few words on proper planting techniques by chapter member, Neta Villalobos-Bell, everyone “dug in”.

In just 3 hours, over 100 plants were in the ground. We’re hopeful most will survive the winter and will pop and bloom for a grand opening celebration sometime in the spring.

We will inform you via email once a date is determined. We hope everyone will join us for the celebration.

Kids House is an amazing and unique place in the state of Florida. It’s a pioneer in the field of working with child abuse cases. It’s a place where all agencies from law enforcement, the state

Klayton KilloughEagle Scout and project leader

Family and friends ready to plant

Continued on next page

Frond Forum Florida Native Plant Society :: Cuplet Fern Chapter :: Seminole County Volume 6, Number 1 :: January – March 2016

- 2 -

attorney’s office, medical personnel, child protection professionals, social workers, and licensed mental health counselors coordinate their expertise in a single facility to determine the best course of action in order to provide for the well-being of the child and family.

The walkway next to the new wildlife habitat will provide an additional healing experience for the kids as they walk and talk with their counselors. As research shows, and as we all know, nature is relaxing, calming, and soothing. To engage in nature, to observe a butterfly at a nectar plant, a caterpillar feeding on a host plant, a bird flying to a nest to feed its young, or a lizard snatching an insect meal—all are opportunities for the kids to engage with nature... and to heal.

Neta Villalobos-Bell

Planting over 100 plants

Cuplet Fern Chapter Supports Kids House of Seminole—continued from previous page

American beautyberry’s long-lasting fruits provide important winter forage for wildlife.

Did you know?


- 3 -

On October 17th the Cuplet Fern Chapter members and friends had a wonderful opportunity to share the beauty and diversity of this jewel of a wilderness in

Brevard County. The Enchanted Forest Sanctuary is located off of SR-405 in Titusville, Florida. It was the first property purchased by the Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program. It consists of 472 acres, with miles of hiking trails that allow the visitor to experience the mesic and hydric hammocks, oak scrub, basin swamp, and marsh.

The area provides a wide variety of both temperate and tropical conditions that allow over 250 species of plants and 150 species of wildlife to call this area home. As the visitor drives along the winding

Looking for Florida Native Fungi at the Enchanted Forest Sanctuaryroad toward the Educational Center, a native plant garden, located in front of the building, comes into view. On that day, we encountered Zebra Heliconia and Black Swallowtails, Cloud and Skippers. And, hiding among the many native plants we found a yellow rat snake enjoying the warmth of the sun.

As we walked along the trails, our guide, Dr. Jay Barnhart, would pick up a mushroom and explain some of the traits to look for. Fungi are identified based on their spore pattern and other varying traits. In looking at fungi, he pointed out some

of these traits—the presence of gills, pores, a volva and ring on the stem, scales on their cap, swollen stem, milky sap, fleshy caps, coloration, or smell. The most important lesson on this field trip was that you should never taste a mushroom. Assume all will make you sick. Enjoy them for their beauty and unusual shapes and their role in the environment.

This hike became more like an Easter Egg Hunt as members became more watchful. We were finding fungi on fallen logs, sides of trees, along stream beds, and under plants. We walked along the Enchanted Crossing Trail towards the canal with a bridge, then on to the Coquina Trail, Mesic Trail, and up to the Ridge Trail. Along with native mushrooms, some of the most unusual native plants seen were the large population of Strap Fern, Hercules Club, and Wild Lime along the boardwalk and canal.

Continued on page 7

Dr. Jay Barnhart identifying fungi


- 4 -

The Seminole County Natural Lands Program Turns 25!

November 2015 represents a very special milestone for the Seminole County Natural Lands Program (NLP). Initiated by a group of conservation-minded citizens, County staff, and The Nature Conservancy, with approval and support from the Board of County Commissioners, a referendum was presented and approved by the citizens of the County in November of 1990 and the NLP was established. In the subsequent 25 years, the NLP has purchased and currently manages approximately 6,600 acres, over 70 miles of trails, and the Ed Yarborough Nature Center. These properties provide important ecological benefits as well as passive, resource-based recreational opportunities for the citizens and visitors to Seminole County.

In that same time many complementary programs sprouted as part of the NLP’s growth. A partnership was formed with our Public Safety Department to establish our prescribed burn program, an environmental education program that began with informal classroom presentations now includes a nature center, school field trips, eco-camps,

and special events. A volunteer program was also established to assist with land management activities and build a sense of stewardship for the County’s natural resources.

One thing that has become very clear in the last 25 years is that it takes a community to care for our Natural Lands. Many other County departments regularly assist with our management tasks—the Sheriff’s Office, Forest Service, other agencies and community organizations also provide their expertise and assistance. And of course, there have been and still are many, many volunteers who pitch in on a variety of assignments.

On Saturday, November 7th we celebrated “Natural Lands Style” with an outdoor festival featuring live music, fishing, horse-drawn wagon rides, a “Walk Back in Time” display, environmental programs, and so much more. The Leisure Services Department would like to thank everyone who assisted both with this event and for the last 25 years helping to make Seminole County’s Natural Lands such a key part of the quality of life for our community.

~ Jim Duby, Program Manager Seminole County Natural Lands Program

The Ed Yarborough Nature Center at the Geneva Wilderness Area—the first property opened to the public.

The lake at Geneva


- 5 -

Wildflowers, Naturally!If you attended last year’s “Florida Native Plants & Wildlife-Friendly Yard Tour”, you will have visited these homeowners’ yard featured in the following article. This year, 2016, the yard tour features seven unique yards in Seminole County. We encourage you to attend. Take the opportunity to observe how specific Florida native plants look in an actual yard setting, not the pretty pictures in a book; talk with the homeowners who have experience growing and maintaining them. Ask them about their “growing pains”—what tips they can provide, failures and successes. Look for new landscape design ideas and themes. Be inspired!

The following November 2015 “News from the Field” article is reprinted with permission from Florida Wildflower Foundation.

Mary Keim and Randy Snyder simply wanted to attract wildlife to their home landscape, and what they ended up with was a beautiful native plant haven that was recognized by the Florida Wildflower Foundation’s Wildflowers, Naturally! program in May.

To attract birds, they chose plant species that drew insects and others that offered fruit and seeds, and also planted species with red tubular flowers to attract hummingbirds. To draw butterflies, they planted nectar- and pollen-providing plants, as

well as host plants for caterpillars. They were also mindful about using species that didn’t require water after establishment or need fertilizer or insecticides.

Of her yard, Mary says, “We enjoy watching wildlife using our garden. We see new things come to the landscape every year.” Recent newcomers include a bay-breasted warbler and black-throated green warbler. An indigo bunting even stopped on the

couple’s wax myrtle. “We watched a Swainson's thrush eating American beautyberries this fall, and two ruby-throated hummingbirds have been in the yard the last few days doing aggressive displays near the firebush flowers. Red-spotted purples have visited the black cherry this year, and giant swallowtails visit often to lay eggs on the Hercules'-club.” To see more photos from Mary and Randy's wildlife garden, go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/38514062@N03/sets/72157624741624990

The “2016 Florida Native Plants & Wildlife-Friendly Yard Tour” is Saturday,

April 16, 9am–2pm. All seven homes on the driving tour are within Seminole County, in close proximity. Tickets are $5 per person and will be on sale in February. More details to come. If you have questions, call 407-302-7616.

Mary Keim and Randy Snyder’s yard

An indigo bunting resting on a wax myrtle

Save the date!


- 6 -

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

American beautyberry is a native deciduous shrub that can grow from three to eight feet tall. In the summer you will see small lilac flowers, but the purple berries that appear in late summer or fall are its most distinctive asset. Occasionally you will see white berries; these come from an escaped cultivar called lactea. The eye-catching berries attract a variety of wildlife such as robins, catbirds, cardinals, mockingbirds, bobwhite quail, and brown thrashers, not to mention squirrels, foxes, raccoons, opossums, and deer. The berries are one of the few food sources that can last into winter.

The American beautyberry has been used by humans for many years. Not only can you make jelly with the berries, but various parts of the beautyberry have been used in folk remedies to treat fever, dysentery, malaria, and rheumatism.

There are stories that the leaves would be placed under harnesses to keep biting insects away from horses. People also rubbed the oil from the plant on themselves. Scientists have found four chemicals in the plant that have insect repellent properties. In fact, one of the chemicals, callicarpenal, has been patented for use by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service.

Our wildlife does a fine job dispersing the American beautyberry. You may find the plant popping up in your garden. It will grow in moist to dry areas and will take sun or partial shade. If you want to add the Beautyberry to your garden, you should be able to find it easily. You may also plant the seeds, propagate using softwood cuttings, or simply transplant volunteers that show up in inconvenient places. Give this one a try; no green thumb required!

Photo by Eric Hunt, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commonshttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Callicarpa_americana_2.jpg#/media/File:Callicarpa_americana_2.jpg


- 7 -

The Senator Cypress and Big Tree Park—DVD DocumentaryJanuary 11, 2016, 7PM 407-302-7616In 2012, The Senator, a world famous 3,500-year-old bald cypress tree located in Seminole County’s Big Tree Park, was lost to a fire. A documentary

“The Legacy of ‘The Senator’ A Tree Remembered”, hosted by Jim Duby, Seminole County’s Greenways and Natural Lands Division, chronicles the history of The Senator, a legendary tree that touched the lives of people locally and around the world. This special production details The Senator’s tragic demise and subsequent “rebirth” through the planting and dedication of a clone tree from the University of Florida named “The Phoenix”.

Florida’s Pines and Habitats February 8, 2016, 7PM 407-302-7616Patti Smith, UF Certified Florida Master Naturalist, will help us identify differences among Central Florida’s five native pine trees. Pine trees are indicator species in different pineland habitats: Mesic Flatwoods, Scrubby Flatwoods,

Wet Flatwoods, and Upland Pine Forest, which are differentiated by soil differences and small variations in topography. Generally, flatwoods are dominated by longleaf pine on well-drained sites, while pond pine-dominated sites occur in poorly drained areas, and slash pine-dominated sites occupy intermediate or moderately moist areas. The understory and ground cover within these three communities are somewhat similar and include several common species. Patti will cover fire adaptations. Fire is an important factor that helps to maintain and shape Natural Pineland communities; almost all of the plants and animals found here are adapted to having fires occur at least once every one to eight years.

Photographing NatureMarch 14, 2016, 7PM 407-302-7616Rich Franco, a professional photographer for over 35 years, will share tips with Cuplet Fern members on how to take great photos, along with advice regarding the type of equipment a new


Upcoming Meetings—All meetings are free and open to the public

Looking for Florida Native Fungi at the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary—continued from page 3

Upon returning to the Center, we checked out the spore prints Dr. Barnhardt had set up previously. Within the three hours we were hiking on the trails, the spores fell from under the mushroom caps making a pattern for identification.

As we left this enchanted place at the end of our morning trip, we were delighted by the beautiful variety of insects and butterflies flying amongst the plants in the native plant garden.

A trail through the Enchanted Forest


- 8 -

Big Tree ParkJanuary 16, 2016, 10AM 407-302-7616761 General Hutchinson Pkwy, LongwoodTrip Leader: Sherry Williams, Biologist, Seminole County Greenways and Natural LandsSherry Williams, Seminole County Biologist, will explain the history of Big Tree Park as we walk through a natural hydric hammock swamp on the boardwalk leading to the former sight of ‘The Senator’ an approximately 3,500-year-old Bald Cypress Tree that was lost to fire in January of 2012.

Proceeding further, we will see the Senator’s sister tree ‘Lady Liberty’, an approximately 2,000 year old Bald Cypress Tree. Bring a lunch and we will picnic in the park after our hike. Free. Reservations required.

Econ River Wilderness AreaFebruary 13, 2016, 9AM 407-302-76163795 Old Lockwood Road, OviedoTrip Leader: Patti Smith, UF Certified Florida Master Naturalist


photographer should invest in at the beginning of the photography hobby. He will also share some of his favorite photos.

Native Plant Demonstration Garden at UCF Public History CenterApril 11, 2016, 7PM 407-302-7616Diane Forrest, UF Certified Florida Master Gardener, submitted a grant proposal along with UCF PHC (Public History Center) to the Florida Wildflower Foundation. The gardens at this building site, the old historic school in downtown Sanford, have multiple demonstration gardens maintained by Master Gardeners. Diane will share her lessons learned through the grant process: native plant selection, installation, and ongoing maintenance.

Wekiva River—A Designated National Wild & Scenic RiverMay 9, 2016, 7PM 407-302-7616The Wekiva River was designated a Wild & Scenic River October 2000 through the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. A coordinated federal, state, and local management committee, the “Wekiva River System Advisory Management Committee,’’

Upcoming Meetings—continued from previous page

Upcoming Field Trips and Activities

determined and implemented the management plan for the Wekiva River. Eighteen partners consisting of federal, state, local, and private organizations hold membership on the committee. This partnership arrangement ensures coordinated front-end planning and long-term oversight of this outstanding resource; day-to-day operations are left to the current land managers. Virginia Oros, Wild & Scenic Ambassador, will detail how this process works and how this delicate and outstanding natural resource is protected.

Plant Families—Identification Tips and TricksJune 13, 2016, 7PM 407-302-7616UCF professor, Elizabeth Harris, discusses basic taxonomic traits of common plant families. With a Ph.D. from LSU focusing on the notoriously complicated Asteraceae Family, Dr. Harris has mastered simplifying the complex, providing us with traits and habits shared between family members. This information is extremely useful for quick identification in the field. Dr. Harris’ passion and energetic approach to teaching is sure to make this meeting one to remember.


- 9 -

Upcoming Field Trips and Activities—continued from previous page

The Econ River Wilderness Area is a 240 acre property located on the Seminole/Orange County line south of the city of Oviedo, on the west side of the Econlockhatchee River. A walk on the approximately 3 miles of trails will take us through habitats such as pine flatwoods, sandhill, and river swamp. Patti will point out the pine trees, the ecosystems, and fire adaptation strategies of plants and animals. Free. Reservations required.

Merritt Island National Wildlife RefugeMarch 19, 2016, 9AM 407-302-7616Merritt Island Visitor Center on SR 406, Titusville(Cross over the Indian River Lagoon. Continue east for 4 miles to reach the visitor information center, located on the right side of the road.)Trip Leaders: Beth Jackson and Barbara WhittierThis refuge provides a range of habitats. Approximately one half of the Refuge’s 140,000 acres consist of brackish estuaries and marshes. The remaining lands consist of coastal dunes, scrub oaks, pine forests and flatwoods, and palm and oak hammocks. There are approximately 1,000 plant species in the refuge. We leave from the Visitor Center to explore some of them. Free. Reservations required.

Florida Native Plant & Wildlife-Friendly Yard TourApril 16, 2016, 9AM–2PM 407-302-7616Self-driving tour of seven landscaped yards in Seminole CountyEach yard is unique in design and selection of Florida native plants, all with the purpose of attracting our native wildlife. Each homeowner will share information about their own yard on a walkout. This is the second annual tour sponsored by Cuplet Fern and Tarflower Native Plant Chapters and Orange Audubon Society. $5/person fee.

Rock Springs RunMay 14, 2016, 9AM 407-302-761630601 CR 433, Sorrento (From the North/East on I-4 take exit 101C and turn right onto SR 46 West. On SR 46 West go about 7 miles and you will cross the Wekiva River. About 3 miles further, the entrance to the preserve is on the left side of the road.)Trip Leader: Florida State Park StaffThis property was purchased in 1983 to preserve habitat restoration and watershed protection in the Central Florida area. Additional purchases in 1993 and 1995 have formed a vast wilderness in Orange and Lake Counties. Rock Springs Run State Reserve is 14,000 acres of a wide variety of plant communities typically found in Central Florida. Our trip leader will discuss as we observe these many communities on a tram ride. Space is limited on the tram. $3 entrance fee to the State Reserve. Reservations required.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Cuplet Fern - Frond Forumcupletfern.fnpschapters.org/data/uploads/newsletters/... · 2016. 5. 14....

Documents

Transcript of Cuplet Fern - Frond Forumcupletfern.fnpschapters.org/data/uploads/newsletters/... · 2016. 5. 14....