Florida Wildflowers: A Comprehensive Guide

by Walter Kingsley Taylor

Overview

“Identifying wildflowers is a popular pastime for many gardeners and lovers of wildlife. But many botanical identification books just aren’t user-friendly. Pick up wildflower expert Walter Kingsley Taylor’s latest offering and you’ll find out just how much fun it is to track down the flower on the side of the road.”—Tampa Tribune

“Goes a step beyond the norm of being just a field guide. It is an absolute inspiration and incentive to get out into the woods.”—Palatka Daily News

“If you would like to attend a fascinating and informative lecture by one of Florida’s foremost experts on the state’s wildflowers and where they may be found—all in the comfort of your own home—by all means, read this book.”—Orlando Sentinel

“Taylor’s guide will help readers recognize and identify wildflowers in a different way, not principally by their color or family group, but by where they’re most likely to be found growing—their natural habitat.”—Gainesville Sun

“This new field guide is the best yet for Florida wildflowers. . . . Each entry includes a description, time of flowering, habitat, Florida distribution, and often a comment field that discusses related species, etymology, and even culinary and landscape uses.”—Floridata

“Taylor’s unorthodox approach has garnered positive comments from casual, weekend hikers as well as those with a professional interest in wildflowers. . . . It has remarkably broad appeal, because it’s so clear and well done and because the photos are excellent.”—Lakeland Ledger

“In this unique and refreshing approach to a wildflower guide, photographs visually illustrate the natural plant community described at the beginning of each community section. . . . An excellent and most useful guide.”—Choice

Walter Kingsley Taylor’s Florida Wildflowers in their Natural Communities was wildly praised for its beauty, ease of use, and unique organizational structure: plants were described in the context of where they grow, making identification much simpler—and more rewarding—for the casual hiker or wildflower enthusiast. Vastly expanded and updated with new taxonomy, this volume provides detailed information on more than 450 species included in the earlier edition and nearly doubles the number of species included by expanding coverage into wetlands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813044255
Publisher:	University Press of Florida
Publication date:	04/16/2013
Pages:	584
Sales rank:	674,107
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

 Walter Kingsley Taylor, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Central Florida, is the author of A Guide to Florida Grasses.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Preface xi

Florida: Not a Paradise, but a Delicious Paradox 1

The Peninsula 3

The Panhandle 4

South Florida 4

Introduction 7

Learning and Identifying Wildflowers 9

Flower Structure 10

Flowering Times 12

Distributions 12

Plant Names 13

Part I Florida's Hardwood Forested Uplands 15

Slope Forests 17

Upland Hardwood Forests 19

Mesic Hammocks 21

Upland Mixed Woodlands 23

Sandhills and Upland Pines (Clayhills) 24

Scrubs 29

Pine Flatwoods 34

Dry Prairies 40

Coastal Uplands 42

Shell Mounds 48

Pine Rocklands (Subtropical Pine Forests) 49

Rockland Hammocks (Tropical Hardwood Hammocks) 53

Ruderal Areas (Disturbed Areas) 55

Part II Florida's Wetlands 57

Wet Prairies 59

Seepage Slopes 60

Marshes 61

Swamps 67

Hydric Hammocks 71

Bottomland Forests and Alluvial Forests 73

Salt Marshes 75

Mangrove Swamps 77

Part III Species Descriptions: Florida's Hardwood Forested Uplands 97

Slope Forests 97

Upland Hardwood Forests 113

Mesic Hammocks 129

Upland Mixed Woodlands 142

Sandhills and Upland Pines (Clayhills) 154

Scrubs 200

Pine Flatwoods 225

Coastal Uplands 272

Pine Rocklands 319

Rockland Hammocks 332

Ruderal Areas 347

Part IV Species Descriptions: Florida's Wetlands 375

Wet Prairies 375

Seepage Slopes 388

Marshes 397

Swamps 422

Hydric Hammocks 446

Bottomland Forests and Alluvial Forests 452

Salt Marshes 467

Mangrove Swamps 481

Places to Visit 487

Glossary 513

Selected References 519

Index to People and Places 527

Index to Species and Families 533