In January 2022, made my first trip out of state of TX to sometime sunny North Central Florida. since the pandemic. Checked the CDC Covid alert, and found that all of the counties we would be going to were rated at the highest level as a hot spot. So it was like going from the frying pan into the fire. Fortunately we had our HazMat gear on hand, and managed to go to and fro without (apparently) contracting any viral infections, according to the Covid-19 15 minute results tests.

After landing in Florida, saw some species familiar in central Texas. Also saw a few that were not familiar.

Mistletoe, a parasite in Texas, also thrives in Florida.

This little critter was pointed out to me by a gentleman in a parking lot. Apparently It had been looking for tasty morsels in the large garbage bins, and was unable to get out on its own. Hopefully, someone gave him or her a ramp  to get out of the bin before the next garbage pickup.

I believe that this was a Yaupon Holly, or a cultivated variation thereof, as it was in the same parking lot as the raccoon. Could have been Ilex decidua, and just not dropped its leaves yet, due to a shorter Fall and Winter in Florida (if there is one). As a cultivated/planted plant, I didn’t bother to check it in iNaturalist.org.

Spanish Moss

I suppose there is Spanish Moss in abundance in South and Gulf Coast Texas, but what we see here is mostly Ball Moss. So this was a distinctive and omnipresent reminder that we weren’t in the Greater Austin Metro Area anymore. (Of course, there were lots of Southern Oaks present, from which the Spanish Moss was hanging. We have them here, though other oak species are more common in Central TX.

A new one to me was this interesting little reddish plant. common name Tassel Plant. After encountering this one in the motel parking lot, I began to notice them all over Gainesville. An exotic or introduced plant.

Tassel Plant

Finally, a fern which I had not yet known the name of A fern with the aptly descriptive common name of “Fishbone Fern.” This was shot in the jungle-like surroundings of Bivens Arm Nature Park on the South side of Gainesville, just north of Paynes Prairie. This photo  (below) was chosen because it demonstrates the leaf pattern that gives the fern its name.

Though it was nice to go “home”again, it was also nice to get back “home” again.

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#nativeplants #Texas #Florida #GainesvilleFlorida