If you are only passingly familiar with cycads, you’re missing out on one of the most ancient and interesting representatives of the plant kingdom. The first cycads arose somewhere around 280 million years ago, but came into their own in the Jurassic Period, the same time dinosaurs began to dominate, roughly 200 to 145 million years ago. But you can’t say that’s when cycads really flowered, because they’re…
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The Fukien Tea Plant is named for the Fukien or Fujien Province of S. China where it is native. Its botanical name which most people are familiar with is Carmona microphylla. However, recently it has been renamed Ehretia buxifolia. It is a member of the Boraginaceae family, or Borage Family. In the Philippines, the leaves…
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The Dept of Agriculture just shared this item with local growers and we thought you should be aware of it too: Since their initial discovery in September 2011 by the Florida Department of Agriculture, state officials have now captured a total of 78,000 Giant African Land Snails in Miami- Dade County. The snails eat stucco,…
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Krugiodendron ferreum, or Black Ironwood, is native from Cape Canaveral southward into islands of the Caribbean Basin and from southern Mexico to Honduras. It is often found in hammockland near coastal waters, yet once established in an urban setting, it does not require irrigation. As the refer-ence to iron in its species name suggests, the wood of this…
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Quick! Can you name a beautiful ornamental succulent plant that somehow belongs in the same family as hyacinth and asparagus? Our choice is Beaucarnea recurvata, a uniquely constructed tree native to arid areas of southeastern Mexico. Where it’s native, Beaucarnea can reach 30 ft. high after many years, but in cultivation tends to stay shorter. It starts life as a…
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