December 2009 Calendar Picture
Florida Winter Colors (part 1)

I set out this month to do a photo page that showed how mid to south Florida really looked in the middle of the winter. For the calendar photo I was lucky enough to find a stand of Brazilian peppers mixed with cotton-seed trees which make a most festive presentation.

I enlisted Nora (Sunny) Belknap's help on my photo expedition and want to say thanks for her support, determination, and great eye for shots. She also braved the wilds to help me gather samples of the plants for identification...

"Sunny," I said. "that ditch is too wide to jump. There's water under the grass under the edges!"

"Don't worry." She said. "No problem."

She jumped, landed in the water, and spent the rest of the trip wet nearly up to her knees. The immediate reaction was her needing to use the bathroom. After that, God bless her, she never complained or said a word about it though I could hear her shoes squishing with every step.

Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius)

With their showy red Christmas berries, fast growing habit, and hardiness, it's easy to understand why Brazilian peppers were imported from Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil to Florida in the mid-1800s as ornamentals. Their invasive nature was discovered too late and they have gone on to decimate huge sections of South Florida, displacing native species and covering vast areas with their monoculture tangles. Still, they are a beautiful tree with shiny aromatic foliage and fruit that many species of birds and mammals enjoy.

There is nothing unusual about seeing a stand of them alongside many native species. This shot of the above scene from a greater distance shows how they can become part of the countryside.

Brazilian peppers are closely related to poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. While the peppers may be irritating to those sensitive, I have never had such a reaction, though I react violently to poison ivy. Because of the their extreme invasiveness, it is now illegal to plant, transport, or sell the plants.

Cotton-seed tree (Baccharis Asteraceae halimifolia L.)

The cotton-seed tree, also called groundsel, is fairly common in the southeast. This ever- green shrub or small tree prefers edges and waste places, especially in moist areas.

This is the only member of the sunflower family to reach tree size in Florida. More common towards the coast, they are showy in late fall with male and female flowers growing on different trees.

The day these photographs were taken, the wind was blowing and the fluffy seeds were sailing in clumps from the mature plants.

Candle Bush (Cassia alata)

This small tree is native to the Amazon Rainforest and was imported to Florida a century ago as a landscaping ornamental. It has since become naturalized in the southern states. It can grow over six feet a year and will reach a maximum size of 30 feet in height and 15 feet in circumference. When grown from seed it will bloom the first year in the fall and through the winter.

The area where I found this specimen had been clear-cut a few months ago and while it looks dry, I sank in past my ankles in several spots when walking to get the pictures. The seed pods are long and multi-angled.

The final shot of this part of my Florida Winter Colors topic isn't too colorful, but is striking none the less. This is looking at the field, where the candle bush photos were taken, from the other direction. This area was purchased by the county and state months ago and is being returned to its natural condition. The drainage ditches and canals have been blocked and the entire area is becoming a salt marsh again. The live oaks pictured are all dead or dying because they can't live in such saturated soil. The Spanish moss in their branches, however, continues to thrive and the long tendrils, blowing in the wind, give a beautiful if mournful look to the scene.

That concludes part 1 of my "Florida Winter Colors" topic. I hope you enjoyed it. Please come back next month for part 2.