Centrosema virginianum thru Citharexylum fruticosum

Species Name	Common Name
Centrosema virginianum	Spurred Butterfly Pea
Ceratiola ericoides	Florida Rosemary
Chamaecrista fasciculata	Partridge Pea
Chamaecrista nictitans	Sensitive Pea
Chamaesyce bombensis	Dixie Sandmat
Chamaesyce hirta	Hairy Spurge
Chamaesyce mendezii	Mendez’s Sandmat
Chromolaena odorata	Jack-In-The-Bush
Chrysobalanus icaco	Cocoplum
Cicuta maculata	Spotted Water Hemlock
Cirsium horridulum	Purple Thistle
Cissus verticillata	Possum Grape
Citharexylum spinosum	Fiddlewood

 

 

Centrosema virginianum Spurred Butterfly Pea Centrosema virginianum is a native perennial legume (Family Fabaceae). It vines and trails throughout clearings, hammocks, and pine lands. The spurred butterfly pea has a very large upturned purple flower with a distinctive keel on its upper-most petal and a spur at the base of that petal. The plant has alternate leaves with three narrow leaflets. This plant is the larval food for many species of skipper butterflies.   Return to top

 

 

Ceratiola ericoides Florida Rosemary Ceratiola ericoides is a native, evergreen, perennial shrub that grows to be several meters tall in dry, deep sandy soils. Its needle-like leaves are slightly aromatic and arranged in whorls on its branches. Its roots, shoots, and leaf litter produce a chemical called ceratiolin that has an allelopathic effect that suppresses germination of other species. While ceratiolin is mildly allelopathic, it degrades to hydrocinnamic acid, which has much stronger allelopathic properties. As shown in the third photograph, sandy gaps, devoid of vegetation, surround clumps of Florida rosemary in the Smith Preserve. Ceratiola ericoides is dioecious (having both male and female plants). The average age for reproductive individuals is 15-16 years. Both sexes produce flowers. Male flowers (shown in photograph two) produce pollen that is transported by the wind. Once female flowers are fertilized, fruits begin their development. The fruits (shown in the fourth photograph) are greenish-yellow drupes that contain seeds. The fruits are consumed by ants, mice, and birds. Return to top

 

 

Chamaecrista fasciculata Partridge Pea Chamaecrista fasciculata is a legume with even-pinnately compound leaves with linear spine-tipped leaflets. The leaf petiole near the middle bears a round gland. The flowers are five-petaled and yellow. The petals often have reddish spots at their bases, as shown in the photograph. Each flower has 10 stamens. Partridge pea plants grow to be 9 m tall and taller.   Return to top

 

 

Chamaecrista nictitans Sensitive Pea Chamaecrista nicitans is a legume. Its leaflets, smaller than those of Chamaecrista fasciculata, fold together when touched. The plant reaches .6 m in height. The leaf petiole has a gland just below the lowest leaflet. There are 5 stamens. Cherokees made a tea from this plant to treat fatigue.   Return to top

 

 

Chamaesyce bombensis Dixie Sandmat Chamaesyce bombensis is a native, mat-forming annual in the spurge family (Family Euphorbiaceae). It is a small prostrate herb with reddish stems and opposite, oblong leaves. Leaves lack serrations. Flowers are small and white, as shown in these photographs. Dixie sandmat produces small fruits, as shown in the last photograph. When wounded, the plant stems extrude a milky latex material. Return to top

 

 

Chamaesyce hirta Hairy Spurge Chamaesyce hirta is a native, annual, branched prostrate weed. "Hirta" means "rough or hairy" and refers to this plant's hairy stems and leaves. When wounded, the plant stems extrude a milky latex material. The leaves are opposite, asymmetrical, have serrated margins, and are up to 3 cm long. They are pale to dark green and often have a purple blotch near the midvein, as shown above. Flowers are clustered into axils of the leaves and on the terminal ends of the branches. Although the buds shown in the Smith Preserve plants above are red, the tiny fully-opened blossoms are white. One plant can produce up to 3000 seeds. Hairy spurge is an important herbal medicine used to treat a variety of conditions. One of its common names is the "Asthma herb."   Return to top

 

 

Chamaesyce mendezii Mendez’s Sandmat Chamaesyce mendezii is a non-native, naturalized perennial that forms large mats. The mat shown in this photograph was at least a meter in diameter and was encapsulating a grape vine. As shown below in close-up photographs, Mendez's sandmat has long hairs on the sides of its stems and leaves. Stems extrude milky latex sap. Leaves are elliptical to nearly oval and have toothed margins. Flowers are very small and located on the leaf axils, and fruit is purple and about 3 mm in diameter as shown in the last photograph.   Return to top

 

 

Chromolaena odorata Jack-In-The-Bush Chromolaena odorata is a native, perennial, woody, flowering shrub in Family Asteraceae (The Aster, Daisy, or Sunflower Family). It is a rapidly growing, multi-stemmed shrub that can grow to a height of 3 m. The species name, odorata, is descriptive of the pungent odor produced when leaves are crushed. The normal habitat for Jack-In-The-Bush is a hardwood hammock, however this plant found and photographed at the Smith Preserve, is growing at the base of a tree in an exposed area of sandy soil near gopher tortoise burrows. As shown in these photographs, plant stems are hairy, and leaves are opposite and lance-shaped. The tubular flowers are white to pale pink or light blue and in panicles at the ends of branches. Flowers attract many pollinators. Each plant can produce 80,000 to 90,000 seeds, which are dispersed by wind and by clinging to fur and clothing. The photograph at right shows some of these seeds. Traditionally, leaves are used as a medicine in Indonesia to treat skin wounds and in the Caribbean as a tea for treating coughs. However, the plant is toxic to cattle and can cause allergic reactions in people. Return to top

 

 

Chrysobalanus icaco Cocoplum Chrysobalanus icaco is a native evergreen shrub/small tree that can grow to be 6 meters tall. Cocoplum leaves are simple, alternate, shiny, thick, and leathery. Leaves are elliptical to nearly round. New leaves are coppery-pink, while mature leaves are green. The bark is greyish or reddish brown. Flowers are small, fragrant, greenish-white, and clustered along the twigs. The fruit is oval, dark-purple, and edible. Gopher tortoises and other wildlife eat the fruit and people use the fruit to make jam. Return to top

 

 

Cicuta maculata Spotted Water Hemlock Cicuta maculata is a native, perennial, flowering member in Family Apiaceae (The Carrot and Parsley Family). The genus name Cicuta is Latin for "poison hemlock" and the species name maculata is Latin for "spotted or mottled", which refers to the purple mottling of the stem. This plant can grow 1 to 1.5 m in height and lives in moist sunny to partially shaded areas. It is considered to be the most toxic plant in North America. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous. Ingestion of spotted water hemlock in any quantity can result in death or permanent neurological damage. To the Iroquois, it was known as suicide root. As shown in the first photograph, this plant has branched, purple striped, stems. Stems are hollow and the main stem is swollen at its base and rhizomatous, meaning it has an underground system of roots and shoots growing from its nodes. The leaves are large, alternately arranged on the stem, and either double or triple compound. Photograph two shows one leaf. Leaflets are lance-shaped, pointed, serrated, shiny, and green. Each is 2 to 10 cm long. The entire leaf can be 40 cm long. Flowers bloom in the spring and summer and are in inflorescences (clusters arranged on branched stems). An inflorescence looks somewhat like a giant Queen Anne's Lace. As shown at far left, each individual flower is tiny, white, and has five petals. Flowers attract a variety of butterflies, beetles, and flies.   Return to top

 

 

Cirsium horridulum Purple Thistle Cirsium horridulum is a member of Family Asteraceae (Aster Family). Cirsium is derived from the Greek word kiros which means "swollen vein." Some Cirsius thistles are used to remedy varicose veins. "Horridulum" is Latin for "prickly" or bristly". Purple thistle has erect stems as shown in the first photograph. Leaves are spiny, lobed or deeply incised, as shown in the second photograph. The largest and most deeply cut leaves are at the bottom of the plant. Stem leaves clasp the stem. Disk flowers are 5 to 7.6 cm in diameter and can be white, pink, lavender, or purple. Under the flower heads are a series of spiny bracts. Photographs below show a blossom partially opened and one that is fully opened. At left, a flower head has gone to seed. Seeds have tufts of tiny hair (pappus) that carry them by wind. Flowers bloom year round, and attract a variety of insects including butterflies, bees, wasps, and beetles. In addition to providing nectar, purple thistle is the host plant of some lepidoptera larva, and thistle seeds are a favorite food of small finches.     Return to top

 

 

Cissus verticillata Possum Grape Cissus verticillata is a native woody-vined member of Family Vitaceae (The Grape Family). It can grow along the ground or climb into trees. The plants shown in these photographs are growing along the northern edge of the Smith Preserve, just south of the ditch along to the Naples/Greenway parking lot. Cissus verticillata leaves are alternate, simple, and toothed. Each leaf's petiole is 6.4 cm long, and as shown in the last photograph below, possum grape vine stems are hairy. Possum grape vines bloom year round and flowers are green to yellow- green with 4 sepals and petals. The berries begin green and turn bluish black with age. Each berry has one seed and is edible. Return to top

 

 

Citharexylum spinosum Fiddlewood Citharexylum spinosum, aka Citharexylum fruticosum, is a native, shrub/ tree that can grow to be 13 m tall. The plant produces several trunks. Leaves are alternate and glossy with smooth margins and distinctive bowed venation. Its small flowers are white; its fruit is yellow and black. The flowers attract butterflies and bees and the edible fruits attract birds. People use the wood to make musical instruments and the fruit to make medicinal tea.   Return to top

© Photographs and text by Susan Leach Snyder (Conservancy of Southwest Florida Volunteer), unless otherwise credited above.

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