In the inventory and articles published on this website, we think it’s helpful to provide both botanical and common names, but sometimes the informal names are head-scratchers. For example, “Swiss Chard” is the appellation placed on a plant that’s native to the Mediterranean. Fortunately, most common names do make sense, and we believe there are few more descriptive than ‘Powderpuff.’ The most ornamental…
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Aristolochia, is a genus of woody vines commonly called, Dutchman’s Pipe or Pipe Vines. This is due to the shape of the flower resembling a pipe in many species. It is also called Calico Flower, because the pattern on the flower resembles calico fabric. Many butterfly enthusiasts in South Florida grow this vine for the larval…
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If you’re at all like me, you value your privacy. Around your property, one way to help ensure privacy is to install a good hedge. Contrary to what some growers will tell you, not every hedge plant is capable of fulfilling homeowners’ needs for a dense, long-lasting screening material. It may sound like heresy for me to…
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The genus Bauhinia, is named after 16th century Swiss-French identical twin brothers who were botanists, Johann and Caspar Bauhin. Appropriately named, because the leaves of Bauhinia, are two-lobed and perfectly symmetrical. This particular species blooms year round with pink and white whispy flowers, and is an excellent nectar source for butterflies, especially, the Giant Swallowtail. As a…
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Does this name fail to ring a bell with you? Fret not; you aren’t alone. Biscayne Prickly Ash is among the rarest, and least known, of our state’s native flora. While the small tree occurs naturally from the western Caribbean into Florida, from Palm Beach County south, coastal development has been making it vanish. (It…
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