Field Biology of Florida: Botanical Gardens

11-Sept-2014

FL Botanical Gardens, Largo, FL
88 degrees, 40-50% cloud cover
managed area

Summary: While it was hot and there were waspy figs, the alligators stayed hidden and my camera didn't decide to completely die until after the scavenger hunt. And when I got it home and whacked it with particular force a few more times, it decided to work again. Ah, technology.

Details:
Pre-scavenger hunt at the Botanical Gardens, we met under a fig tree (a showy angiosperm laden with fruit) and contemplated the wasps that like to crawl inside those figs.

Figs! Fuzzy on the outside.

From there, a brief tour through a nearby native garden included a lovely example of native Beauty Berry complete with the magenta berries. This guy makes jelly out of the berries http://www.eattheweeds.com/beautyberry-jelly-on-a-roll/, although most people suggest that it tastes nasty at minimum and possibly poisonous, so you may not want to snack.

Callicarpa americana

There was also a type of horsemint (unpictured), recognizable as part of the

Lamiaceae (mint family) as most mints have square stems.

Last picture from that garden was of Wild Coffee, Pscyhotria nervosa, which has a name suggestive of a bad trip or a nervous condition. You probably don't want to drink it, although the following link claims you can make a caffeine-free drink from it: http://www.south-florida-plant-guide.com/wild-coffee.html. You may not want to believe everything on the internet though.

Wild coffee, Pscyhotria nervosa

And then we got deep into the scavenger hunts, and the photography was more focused on speed than exploration, and occasionally beating my camera so the LCD screen continued to illuminate. Still, some peaceful nature moments.