DuPuis Reserve Pine flatwood

Martin County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, March 9, 2013 Field Trip to DuPuis Preserve
On March 9, a cool yet sunny Saturday morning, fourteen (14) Native
Plant members met at Gate One of Dupuis Management Area to begin a tour
with Jim Schuette, its manager. Jim explained Dupuis’ water issues, the use
of prescribed burning to restore and maintain its ecological diversity, and its
history before becoming 22,000 acres of state land managed by the SFWMD.
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Our first stop came when Clematis baldwinii’s nodding purple flower
was spotted at the roadside. Near it we found Melantheria nivea’s small white
flower heads. On our second stop, we stood among Spanish needle, Bidens
alba; wax myrtle, Myrica cerifera; the yellow flowers of butter weed,
Senecio glabellus and Primose willow, Ludwigia octavalvis; the blue flowers
of toadflax, Linaria canadensis, and blue hearts, Buchnera americana,
caused us to look twice at their similar growth.
Clematis baldwinii
At our third stop near the trees favored by the Red cockaded
woodpeckers we spotted the white flowers of the White violet, Viola
lanceolata, and Ladies tresses, Spiranthes vernales; the orange flowers of
Polygala lutea, Candyweed; the yellow flowering Hypericum cistifolium with
its terminal inflorescence and needlelike leaves and H. tetrapetalum. with its
4 petals and clasping leaves.
On the boardwalk leading to the fresh water swamp Saltmarsh mallow’s,
Kosteletzkya virginica, pink flowers stopped us as did a Pale meadow beauty,
Rhexia mariana. The red flowering spikes of Tillandsia fasiculata, the
Cardinal airplants, led us to the tail of a submerged alligator and the small
brown balls of the Jingle bell orchid, Harrisella porrecta that Chuck
McCartney pointed out during a May field trip from the 2009 FNPS
Conference in West Palm Beach. They should bloom in September-October.
As we finished our 2 hours tour, a green anole bid us good-bye.
notes by Florence Chatowsky, photos by Joan Bausch
Buchnera americana
Polygala lutea
Hypericum tetrapetalum
Martin County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, March 9, 2013 Field Trip to DuPuis Preserve
DuPuis Reserve has ideal habitat for the Red-cockaded woodpecker. Note box to help re-establish new birds.
New generations are beginning to peck at trees to make their own holes. Population is expanding!