Florida Scenes

I've been doing a lot of walking in the evenings. Sometimes when its not too humid I carry one of the cameras with me. These are some of the things I've seen in the past week. ABOVE: There are a lot of Black Swallowtail butterflies around (Papilio polyxenes Fabricius, 1775). Their wingspan is about 4". . . so its a big bug. These guys love to lay their eggs on late summer garden crops in the parsley family (Apiaceae). Sometimes they'll also lay their eggs on citrus family (Rutaceae) specimens if they can't find their preferred plant.



ABOVE and BELOW: Most Floridians probably never see any of this plant. It prefers thickets in dry pinelands. I see a lot of this as I walk and watch the cars whizzing by. It is so unnoticed as to not even merit a common name in Florida. Its Latin name is Galactia volubilis. Its in the bean or pea family (Fabaceae).





ABOVE: I see this colorful female cardinal every evening. She is remarkably colored for a female. She doesn't like me walking near her nest which happens to be over the sidewalk I traverse. Cardinalis cardinalis are becoming rare in Florida as their habitat is destroyed.



ABOVE: There is a lot of Winged Sumac (Rhus copallina) along the roadsides. Most of the specimen I see are small trees, from 8 - 24 - feet tall. As the fruit ripens it becomes quite colorful. This plant is often killed because it is incorrectly assumed to be poisonous. The fruit of poison sumac is white (Rhus vernix).

For more of my walking through Florida photos go to:

Phillip's Natural World. . .the other photos and

Phillip's Natural World III