Florida Flora and Druidry /| - Blog posts

Oak and other friends in the scrub

Between last year’s post and my experiences while out walking last week, I may be ready to declare the autumn equinox my favorite time of year. The sun is bright and warm…

The palm family (Arecaceae)

plant families

evolution

You don’t have to go very far in Florida to find palm trees! My daughter even made a game of spotting them from the car when she was two years old. All palm trees belong to…

The Sacred Geometry of Phyllotaxis

plant development

This post started a few months ago when I saw a recent study in Science come up in my news feed. Scientists had examined a three-dimensional lycopod (club moss) fossil and…

Amaranth and oat porridge

recipe

This is my blog and I am putting the recipe first! Ha!

Fabaceae

angiosperms

family

Right after Lughnasadh (August 1), this little bushy plant burst into bloom with clusters of tiny purple flowers. A group of wasps was working diligently at collecting…

About a pinecone

We’ve been through a few minor family hardships lately. Nothing we can’t get through, but I have been left feeling raw like a scraped knee. At about 5PM on Labor Day I…

Arrasa con todo (Gomphrena serrata)

species

angiosperms

plant families

plant uses

I found this flower growing in my backyard, and was drawn to its clusters of flowers arranged in a spiral, the same aesthetic I suppose that is making succulents so popular…

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

angiosperms

species

plant uses

We have been in our current house less then a year, and have gotten to watch the back half of our backyard re-wild itself. Tragically we can see from Google maps that there…

Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

evolution

angiosperms

species

As someone who grew up in the Northeast US, the silhouette of a Southern magnolia hits me as being a bit strange. It is quite clearly a broad-leafed tree, yet can grow in an…