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Walk On The Wild Side

Tribune photo by ROBERT BURKE

These brilliant yellow swamp sunflowers are scattered throughout Cockroach Creek Preserve in Sundance.

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: November 19, 2008

SUNDANCE - Kick off those loafers and slip into some hiking boots for a leisurely stroll through a sea of gold, yellow and lavender wildflowers blanketing a nature preserve near you.

Although Florida may not have showy displays of bright orange and red leaves, it does have a huge array of wildflowers shrouding the woodlands this time of year.

Swamp sunflowers, goldenrod in a dozen species, purple blazing star, salt bush and coreopsis. The list seems nearly endless.

"A lot of these species are common this time of year in the pine flatwoods and wet flatwoods," said Stephen Dickman, an environmental specialist with Hillsborough County's Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program.

During a recent visit to the Cockroach Creek Preserve near the Manatee County line, Dickman spewed out Latin names as he eyeballed each species, sometimes pulling information from his guide to vascular plants.

For the confounding varieties, he whipped out his miniature magnifying glass to take a closer look, making notes as he went to keep track of the variety found on the county's preserves. Rare plants get marked electronically using a geographic positioning system.

For the amateur wildflower enthusiast hiking out to observe these beauties, Dickman recommends bringing along a guide to help identify the different types of flowers.

The book he uses - "Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida" - is written by University of South Florida botany professors Richard Wunderlin and Bruce Hansen, who also have an online Atlas of Vascular Plants of Florida at www.plantatlas.edu. So, even without a guide book, a digital photo and access to the Internet can make difficult identifications breezy.

"This is one of my favorite areas," said ELAPP manager Ross Dickerson, admiring a clump of wild coffee plants sporting red and green berries at Cockroach Creek. "We'd love to see more people taking advantage of our wildflowers."

Some of the areas purchased through ELAPP were overgrown with exotic plants or pasturelands when the county purchased them, Dickerson said. At Cockroach Creek, the overgrown area was roller-chopped and burned to remove exotics. Almost immediately, he said, flowers and native grasses began to reappear.

They've had similar results on other sites using controlled burning.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

BEST WILDFLOWER VIEWING SITES

•Cypress Creek Preserve near Lutz

•Cockroach Creek Preserve in Sundance

•Balm-Boyette Scrub in Riverview

•Upper Little Manatee River in Wimauma

•Blackwater Creek Preserve north of Plant City

•Bell Creek Preserve in Riverview

For a listing of the preserves and brochures with maps, go to

www.hillsboroughcounty.org/parks/conservationservi....

For more photos, go to southshore.tbo.com, Keyword: Wildflowers

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