Florida's Mystery Tree

Identifying these trees was a real puzzler.

Mystery Trees

For months, I have driven by this local stand of tall, wispy, pine trees with unusually long, 12 to 16 inch needles. The trees are green all year. I assumed at first that they were native Longleaf Pines. Longleaf Pines have the longest needles (hence the name) of any Florida Pine.  But then I realized it couldn’t be. For one thing, Longleaf Pines are quite common and I’ve only seen these mystery trees in this one spot. And two, Longleaf Pines have needles in clumps, with a somewhat French Poodly appearance.

So I went to look it up in my Florida Audubon Field Guide. The guide divides trees into two main divisions: Conifers (technically Gymnosperms, commonly pines), and Flowering Trees (or Angiosperms).  Five conifers were shown, but none matched.   Next I went on line and searched “Conifers of Florida.” The University of Florida listed 10 common Florida Pines, but still, none matched my mystery tree.

Needles

Now I was challenged. So I got on my bike and went for a close-up inspection.  The needles were long and thin, with tiny nodules on them. The cones were small brownish green woody balls.

Pine Cones

The bark was grayish brown and smooth, unlike the furrowed or scaly bark of pines. 

Bark

 This little forest was perhaps 100 yds by 100 yds. The perimeter was quite dense with new growth and saplings. But inside the perimeter, where little sun makes it through the thick canopy, hardly a weed or other plant was seen.  This is most unusual in Florida, where untended land is quickly overrun with all sorts of growth.

No Undergrowth

I considered that perhaps this wasn’t a conifer at all. So, back home, I widened my search to include all Florida trees.  Florida has over 300 native and 1000 exotic species, so this became a daunting task.  But the search did result in one article entitled “Identifying Invasive Australian Pine Trees”.  One more click and there was my mystery tree…the invasive Australian pine, also known as Ironwood, Beefwood and She Oak. The tree was described as deciduous, even though it remains green all year round.

This tree is quite unusual and a very aggressive competitor. First, in spite of its common name, it’s not a pine at all!   It is a Flowering Tree closer related to oaks than pines. The “needles” are actually branchlets with tiny scale-like leaves attached. The “cones” are actually a small nut-like fruit with winged seeds that are spread long distances by the wind.

But the most amazing feature of the Australian pine is its ability to take over existing habitats. The tree grows 5 to 10 feet a year and can reach 150 feet tall! The fallen branchlets and leaves contain a chemical that targets and inhibits the growth of other plants on the forest floor, so there is virtually no understory.  This phenomenon is called allelopathy. This most deplored survival strategy is similar to that used by the Roman general Scipio Africanus in 146 BC when he “salted the earth” of defeated Carthage, leaving the land sterile and uninhabitable.

Florida and Hawaii are currently the only states with stands of this invasive species. In another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences (and man’s shortsightedness), Australian pines were intentionally introduced here for lumber, canal stabilization and landscaping around 1900. In the past 15 years they have quadrupled their number in the wild, displacing more desirable Mangrove, Oaks and Palms.  Their shallow roots make them very susceptible to blow-over in storms, thereby destabilizing fragile shorelines.

This experience also proved once more I should not rely too heavily on common names or terms when identifying species.  “Pine” and “evergreen” are not synonymous. “Deciduous” and “broadleaf” are not the same. “Branches” can look like “needles”. “Fruit” can look like “pine cones”.  I really need to get a Tree Identifying Application from the app store.

The Cabbage Palm-Unsung Treasure of Florida



Cabbage Palm Grove

I’m not sure why we have an official Florida “State Tree”, but we do. It is the Cabbage Palm. One would expect that earning this title would place this palm on an honored and respected plane akin to the Bald Eagle or the Giant Sequoia, as it rightly should. But quite the opposite is true.  The Cabbage Palm, mainly because of its hardiness, or perhaps its name, gets no respect. In spite of its truly tropical appearance, landscape architects tend to shun the species in favor of more exotic ones. Virtually all other species of palm command higher prices as a landscape item. (Customer snob appeal enters the picture. Would you prefer to plant a “Silver” Palm, a “Royal” Palm, a “Washington” Palm, or a “Cabbage” Palm?)  Vast acreages of cabbage palms are lost every year through slash and burn clearing for suburban homes sites and new shopping. Fortunately, the palm is not endangered or threatened at this time.

The Cabbage Palm is found naturally in all parts of Florida.  Also known as the Sabal Palm, Palmetto Palm, or Sabal Palmetto, it is a survivor. Fossils have been found of Cabbage Palm fronds from 60 million years ago. It is extremely heat, cold, and draught and salt tolerant. The name Cabbage Palm comes from the edible and delicious heart of palm, or “cabbage” located at the top from where new growth develops. Unfortunately, harvesting the heart kills the tree and is banned in the US.  The Cabbage Palm is quite prevalent in some areas, with large forests consisting primarily of these palms. The flowers are yellowish-white, produced in large compound panicles up to 8 ft long, extending out beyond the leaves. Its fruit is a black berry about .5 in long containing a single seed.

Cabbage Palm in Full Bloom

Cabbage Palm Flowers

But is the Cabbage Palm really a tree?  Trees are classified as either Angiosperms (flowering plants), or Conifers (cone bearing).  All Palms are Angiosperms.  However, unlike most other trees, they are  members of a group called monocots, which produce seeds containing only one leaf. They are much closer related to wheat, rice, barley, sugar cane, bamboo and grass, than to oak or pine trees. The largest family in this group (and in angiosperms as a whole) is the orchid. But “tree” is not a scientific term. “Tree” generally means a woody plant, with a single trunk, and a minimum height at maturity of 12 feet or more. So the cabbage palm does indeed meet the tree definition.

Countless species of fauna and flora depend upon the Cabbage Palm for shade, protection and nourishment. Black bear, raccoons, bats, wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, gulls, cardinals, grackles, blue jays, and scrub jays all rely on the fruit for food.  As with most trees, the largest group of animal inhabitants is birds. Birds of many species will temporarily perch on a high frond while scouting food and predators. Many will build a nest in the top center where new fronds create a natural protected area.

But the features that set the palm apart from all other trees and provide a unique habitat are the “bootjacks”.  As the palm grows, new fronds sprout from the top where the heart is located. Old fronds below eventually die and turn brown. (A palm with dead fronds hanging down is said to be “bearded”.)  The lower of these will then break off, leaving the y shaped base of the frond still attached to the main trunk. These are called bootjacks. A small cavity, about the size of a small orange, exists where the boot meets the trunk. A typical palm will have hundreds of these micro dwellings.  Debris, in the form of dead leaves, pine needles, and airborne detritus and seeds will collect in many of these pockets. Add abundant rain in the summer and you’ve got a nursery for hundreds of flowers and plants. Small rodents, reptiles, birds and insects find this a made-to-order nest. 




Most of this symbiotic growth will die in the fall, when the dry season ceases the supply of rainwater.  But a large group of epiphytic plants, vines, and mosses survive in these pockets indefinitely. Most typical are air plants and ferns. This growth can become very dense and some palms will appear as if they are actually sprouting bushy new growth all up and down the trunk.

When a cabbage palm is transplanted for use in landscaping, it is heavily pruned, root cropped and usually de-booted. This produces an odd looking stalk, with a small root ball and a few wisps of greenery on top.

Surprisingly, most transplants survive. A tree can obtain a height of 80 feet or more, although 40 to 60 feet is most common. Some Cabbage Palms in natural surroundings will lose all their boots and the trunk will appear smooth. Some will keep all their boots and some will be partially booted. This appears to be a random phenomenon, and poorly understood. Tree health, environment, location and wildlife activity may be factors. Another unusual characteristic of the palms is their growth pattern. They will achieve almost full trunk diameter while still only 2 to 3 feet tall!  The outer “bark” is dead and all future growth will be vertical.

With all these variations in size and appearance, it is easy to misidentify. Florida has only eight native palms species (but many more imported exotics). “Native” is another term like “tree” that has a somewhat loose definition. A US “Native” plant is defined by Wikipedia as a plant that has been growing here since before colonization.

To ID a Cabbage Palm look for the fan shaped 6 foot leaves, which distinguish it from the Royal Palm which has huge 15 to 20 foot leaves. And there is a lack of a saw edge on the frond stalks. This will distinguish it from the much shorter Saw Palmetto. The smaller Buccaneer Palm will have rings on the lower trunk and the Everglades Palm grows in clumps. The Florida Thatch Palm and Keys Thatch Palm will have rounded and folded leaves. And lastly, the Needle Palm is a low growing palm with 4 -8 inch needle like spines produced between leaves.  (All other palm varieties have been imported from tropical and sub tropical lands.)  But if you forget all these characteristics, just play the odds. If you’re in Florida, and in the wild, and see a palm, the chances are pretty good it’s a Cabbage Palm.

Mushroom Hunting

Mushrooms----Those mysterious, delicious, deadly, hallucinogenic creatures of the forest floor.  What exactly are they? For many years they were classified as species in the Plant Kingdom; they grow on the ground and don’t move.  But unlike all other plants, they don’t use photosynthesis for producing food. They consume vegetable and dying vegetable matter. Many have gills and “breathe” oxygen. And they give off CO2!  In many ways, they are closer to animals than to plants. So, recently, they were finally classified into their own kingdom, “Fungi”.

Over 14,000 species of mushrooms have been identified. They are quite prolific, occurring in just about all habitats. But they prefer the dark and damp areas on or near the ground where lots of dead and rotting food exists. Some can grow 6 inches in a night. (In one end-of-the-earth scenario, as the sun dies out, fungi take over the planet as all plant and animal life dies.)  So to hunt for mushrooms, one must go to the wet, wooded areas. In South Florida most forests are very wet 6 months a year and damp the rest of the year. My goal was to see and photograph as many species as possible. Collecting them to eat is a dangerous undertaking, so I’m going to use the Precautionary Principal here which states, “The chances of eating a poisonous mushroom are small, but the results are catastrophic… severe illness or death”. So I’ll just shoot them with my camera.

If I could shoot the famous “Angel of Death” mushroom, my goal would be exceeded. The Angel of Death is responsible for 95% of all mushroom fatalities in the US.  It is almost all white, and similar in size and shape to the edible white mushrooms one finds in the produce section of your supermarket. The poison responsible for the fatalities is a pair of peptides called amatoxins that work by inhibiting protein synthesis. Initial symptoms occur in six to eight hours after eating the mushroom and begin with severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. These symptoms soon pass, but within 48 hours the toxins begin doing extreme damage to the liver and kidney. In 1988 a Korean immigrant living in Washington State accidentally fed her family Death Angel mushrooms. The family survived, but four of the five had to undergo liver transplants.

So, off I went to a couple local forested county parks that were close to the Myakka River. The morning mists from the river should provide additional moisture and possibly provide an abundant hunting ground. Five minutes down the trail, I spotted my first mushroom of the day. It was low to the ground with a cap about 3 inches in diameter. 

Dirty Tricholoma

My M.O. was to take several photographs of each different species and then ID it when I got back home, with the help of the PC, internet, and a Mushroom Field Guide I had bought.  Of course this turned out to be a much harder task than I had thought.  Obviously, the size, shape, edge (or margin) and color of the cap are important. But there is much more to it. The underneath part of the cap (commonly called gills, but officially “Lamellae”) needs to be exposed.  Next the stem or “stype” needs to be uprooted, so that the entire length can be seen, bisected and characterized.  Of course this kills the little fellow, which is against my ecophilosophy, so I tried to skip this part… instead photographing as close as possible. The first mushroom turned out to be a Dirty Tricholoma…. edible, tasty and common.

Next I saw another low growing mushroom with a pinkish tint and gills exposed along the margin, later ID’d as a poisonous Pure Mycena.

Pure Mycena

Nearby was a patch of very interesting parasol mushrooms. I have been unable to ID them, but instead, I’ll just call them what they look like.

Parasol Mushrooms

Another patch contained multiple Two Colored Agarics .

 Two Colored Agarics

Shaggy Inkcap

All of the above species belong to the general classification of “gilled mushrooms” or Agaricales, which includes the common grocery store white mushroom.  But there is so much more to the Fungi Kingdom.  A very common category of fungi present in all forests is the Polypores (officially Aphyllophorales).  Polypores are a group of tough, leathery mushrooms, typically lacking a distinct stalk. Polypores are often found on rotting logs and tree trunks. They are slow-growing and quite rot-resistant themselves. During the day was able to ID the following Polypores.

Hoof Fungus

Shaggy Polypore

Artists Fungus

Tobacco Brown Hymenochaete

Another, even more unusual form of life that grows almost everywhere, is the Lichen. It can be found in the arctic, in the desserts, in coastal areas and tropical forests. It grows on rocks, on the ground and on trees and plants. Lichen is actually a combination of fungus and plant, from two different Kingdoms! They exist in a symbiotic association, with the fungus providing water retention and protection, while the plant, usually algae, provides nutrition for both partners through photosynthesis.  I didn’t have to go very far to spot a variety of these guys.  Even more difficult than mushrooms to ID, I contented myself with classifying them according to their growth form. The most common are the crutose, or paint like lichens. Very conspicuous on trees and rocks, and in a variety of colors, they appear as if someone had marked the trail with a paint brush.

White Lichen

Baton Rouge Lichen

Folious or leafy lichens have a scaly appearance. Filamentous lichens are hairy, and the fruiticose form has a branched growth characteristic.

Folious Lichen

Filementous Lichen

Fruitous Lichen

 “Lichens are not parasites; they do not consume any part of the plant nor poison it…. Because lichens do not possess roots, their primary source of most nutritional elements is the air, and therefore elemental levels in lichens often reflect the accumulated composition of ambient air. The processes by which atmospheric deposition occurs include fog and dew, gaseous absorption, and dry deposition.  Consequently, many environmental studies with lichens emphasize their feasibility as effective biomonitors of atmospheric quality.” (from Wikipedia) In other words, they are like the canary in the mine. If the lichens are healthy and vital, then the air is too.

Unfortunately, the infamous “Angel of Death” mushroom eluded me that day. Later I learned that it inhabits primarily the Pacific Northwest.  So I’ll have to wait until I get out there. But here’s a shot of them from the internet.

Angel of Death (Aminita Ocreata)

 Don’t pick this one!

The Amazing Tree Swallow Vortex

About an hour before sunset, the feeding frenzy begins; Hundreds of sparrow size birds in high speed erratic flight, skimming the pond surface, gorging themselves on tiny emerging insects.

These are the wintering Tree Swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, putting on extra fuel for the long trek north. In a few days, they will leave the balmy Florida gulf coast and head back home to raise families in the Northern US and Southern Canada. Their streamlined form enables them to fly graciously, and make seemingly impossible 90 degree turns at full speed…. a turn that would cause the most experienced air force pilot to black out from the G forces.

But the most amazing display will occur just after sunset. So I grab my camera and head to a nearby large vacant plot of land, where the swallows are reported to nest for the night. The plot contains a few large lakes and mainly low shrubs and reeds. I arrive at dusk, and for about 10 minutes, the swallows appear in loose flocks, flying low, all heading in one direction. Then, as if by signal, they’re gone!  I can’t see a one.  I was ready to go home, feeling a little disappointed in their performance. One last look skyward suddenly revealed hundreds of thousands of swallows, barely visible, at a high altitude. (Local Audubon Society estimates there are 600,000 to 1,000,000 in our flock!)

As I watched, they concentrated and descended in mass, flying together in a huge wavering cloud. The cloud came lower and took the shape of a huge tornado funnel. The lower end of the vortex extended to the ground, where the swallows were alighting on branches for the night.

After five minutes the show was over.

I returned 3 days later, on February 23, but the swallows were gone, left for home. Tragically, I read today in the paper that that plot of land has just been approved for 1600 homes and condos. Where will the swallows go??

Highlands Hammock Hike

Located in the geographic center of peninsular Florida, Highlands Hammock State Park is a treasure trove of biodiversity.  At 9000 acres, it is one of Florida’s smaller parks.  But what it lacks in size, it makes up in flora variety.  Over 700 different species of vascular plants live here.  Nine different hiking trails, over four miles in total length, take one thru pine flatwoods, , a pop-ash slough (slow moving shallow creek),  a blackwater cypress swamp, and a live oak/cabbage palm hammock.  (In Florida, the word hammock refers to a fertile, wooded area that is at a slightly higher elevation than the nearby marshes and swamps. It comes from the word hummock or hillock.)

After driving from Venice for two hours, through mainly cattle ranches and citrus groves, in apparently the middle of nowhere, I found the park entrance. I paid the four dollar entrance fee and proceeded around the three mile paved road thru the park.

First stop was to see the 1000 year old live oak growing at the trailhead of the Big Oak Trail. Advertised as the oldest living thing in the park, it was a little disappointing. While the base circumference truly was a whopping 36 feet, the top, above about 15 feet, had been destroyed by storms, and was replaced by much younger growth. 

1000 Yr Old Live Oak

Thankfully, further along the trail, there were much healthier specimens, with the classic spreading fern and moss covered branches extending 100 feet from the main trunk. Because of this horizontal spread, it is impossible to photograph these giants. They must be seen. But, here’s a shot of the oak canopy showing the silver Spanish moss glistening in the filtered sunlight.

 Next I wanted to hike the Cypress Swamp Trail. This half mile trail meanders over the shallow water on a narrow and somewhat primitive boardwalk.

Ogeechee Tupelo

Cypress and Tupelo tress dominate the swamp. Since we are into the winter dry season, the water level was low and the cypress knees were standing erect in the peat bottom like sentries on guard. Knees are vertical growths from the shallow root system.  The purpose of these knees is debated. The favored theory is that due to the very soft and porous soil, they provide an added support for the towering main trunk.

Cypress Knees

Because it was winter and the middle of the day, the wildlife viewing was minimal. So I decided to concentrate on the park’s main attraction, plants.  Since plants don’t run from you when you approach, one can get as close as he wants, identify the species, compose the photograph, and take as many shots as needed…quite different from wildlife photography.

Since the park is home to more than 30 species of ferns, I made it my goal to identify and photograph as many as possible.  Ferns are one of the oldest groups of plants, with fossils found from 360 million years ago. They reproduce asexually, by releasing thousands of tiny pores from the underside of their fronds. The Giant Leather Fern, which can grow to a staggering 13 feet, is threatened and found only in Florida. I wonder if I could be so lucky.

I ventured on to the Ancient Hammock Trail and the aptly named, Fern Garden Trail. Ferns are easy to spot and I quickly identified Boston Ferns, Marsh Ferns, and small Sword Ferns growing up from the moist soil.

Boston Fern

Marsh Ferns

Sword Ferns

But many ferns are epiphytic and grow on trees without the benefit of soil. I found beautiful specimens of Strap Ferns growing on Live Oak trunks and Shoestring Ferns growing on Cabbage Palms. A most amazing fern is the Resurrection Fern, named for its ability to sustain severe droughts by shriveling and turning brown, and then “resurrecting” with the onset of rain.

Strap Ferns

Shoestring Ferns

Resurection Ferns

Along the way, I noticed wild coffee with its distinctive bright red berries growing next to the trail and sour orange trees seeming out of place in the thick underbrush.

Near the end of the trail, I noticed some larger ferns growing well off the path. Could it be? Closer inspection did indeed prove them to be young Giant Leather Ferns (“only” about 5 feet high).

Giant Leather Ferns

At the end of the day, with seven species identified, I was off to a good start. Florida has 123 species of ferns, more than any other state, but Hawaii. So identifying these mysterious creatures could keep me very, very busy.