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| Florida Wild Poinsettia (Euphorbia heterophylla) Canaveral National Seashore, Fall 2020 |
A wildflower superbloom is currently occuring along Central Florida beaches. The superbloom event is dominated by Florida Wild Poinsettia (Euphorbia heterophylla). The best place to enjoy these wildflowers is at the Canaveral National Seashore where there are 58,000 acres of beachfront wilderness preserved.
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Native Floridians know Wild Poinsettia, a spurge, to be mildly poisonous and prevent their pets from foraging on the plant. Walking through a field of Wild Poinsettia in shorts could also lead the plant's milky sap to be deposited on one's legs causing irritation. It is best to enjoy this wildflower from some distance.
There are a lot of other flowering plants and pollinators mixed in with the Wild Poinsettia. Above, ants swarm the emerging blooms while a Beach Wild Pea (Lathyrus japonicus) emerges and reaches out above the bloom.
This wildflower is a member of the Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae).
The plant has many synonyms used by the botanist including: Euphorbia barbellata, Euphorbia graminifolia, Euphorbia havanensis, Euphorbia heterophylla var. barbellata, Euphorbia heterophylla var. cyathophora, Euphorbia heterophylla var. graminifolia, Poinsettia barbellata, Poinsettia cyathophora, Poinsettia cyathophora var. graminifolia, Poinsettia graminifolia, and Poinsettia havanensis.
Some people also refer to this wildflower by the common names Fire on the Mountain and Dwarf Poinsettia.
The dwarf poinsettia has green stems and alternate lobed leaves, the uppermost with irregular red blotches near the base. The terminal flowers are yellowish with 1-2 small glands or nectaries.
Spurges are commonly herbs, with milky sap; in the tropics also includes shrubs or trees.
There are about 290 genera and 7,500 species of spurges, mostly of warm or hot regions. Among the valuable products of the family are rubber, castor and tung oils, and tapioca. Most members of the family are poisonous, and their milky sap will irritate the membranes of the eyes and mouth.
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| Beach sunflower (Helianthus debilis) is a butterfly-attracting Florida native that is perfectly adapted for hot, dry coastal areas. |
There are many other wildflowers in bloom at the seashore including acres of Gaillardia and Beach Sunflower.
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| Gaillardia (Gaillardia pulchella) aka Blanketflower |
Gaillardia grows on the west side of the palmetto covered dunes at Canaveral National Seashore in areas too sandy and hot for Wild Poinsettia.
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| Gaillardia (Gaillardia pulchella) aka Blanketflower |
Gaillardia blooms throughout the summer and fall. The flowers are single, semi-double, double, and even tubular, and grow on long stems above the long, soft, hairy leaves. Difference in colors and variations in petal shapes are a result of natural hybridization. They are usually reddish purple or orange-red with yellow tips, but can also be solid yellow, orange, or red, and make excellent, long-lasting cut flowers that attract butterflies.
Also blooming is poisonous Tread Softly (Cnidoscolus stimulosus). This plant will produce a painful response if one encounters the sap. Best to avoid it, if possible. I found Tread Softly growing in the dunes at the edge of the seaward edge of the palmettos and on the Mosquito Lagoon side of the peninsula amongst sand live oaks (pictured here).
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| Florida Tread Softly Plant (poisonous) Cnidoscolus stimulosus |
And forever present along Florida beaches is the near-constant blooming Spanish Needles (Bidens alba). This wild native can be found everywhere in Florida, but is currently spectacular at Canaveral.
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| A Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris rapae) feeding on Bidens alba (Spanish Needles) |
We've Read:
Greenland ice sheet to melt at fastest rate in 12,000 years
in
The largest pre-industrial rates of Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) mass loss (up to 6,000 billion tonnes per century) occurred in the early Holocene, and were similar to the contemporary (AD2000–2018) rate of around 6,100 billion tonnes per century. Simulations of future mass loss from southwestern GIS, based on Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios corresponding to low (RCP2.6) and high (RCP8.5) greenhouse gas concentration trajectories, predict mass loss of between 8,800 and 35,900 billion tonnes over the 21st century. These rates of GIS mass loss exceed the maximum rates over the past 12,000 years.
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