There are several of these sandhill islands in The Ocala, but for some reason unknown to me, Hughes seems to stand out when Florida naturalists talk about them. It isn’t the largest or smallest and I don’t know that its flora and fauna are any different from the others. It is well-defined on aerials, being the circular, light-hued feature in the center of the photo sporting a bull’s-eye comprised of oak hammock and bayhead habitats:
It has been a few decades since I visited that bull’s-eye. It contains the national champion loblolly-bay tree (Gordonia lasianthus), a species of the tea family with showy, 4- to 5-inch wide white-and-yellow flowers: http://tinyurl.com/yjrao9y. Ordinarily a denizen of seepage slopes, the loblolly-bay is gaining increasing popularity in home landscaping due to its glossy evergreen leaves, compact narrow crown and attractive inflorescence. The plant flowers over a several-month period in summer and then its leaves turn bright red a few at a time during late summer and fall, adding to its attractiveness. The champion tree is a magnificent specimen almost 6ft in diameter at chest height if memory serves correctly. Back then, I found two younger, slightly smaller loblolly-bays side-by-side at the seepage edge of a floodplain located a little closer to home, and I suspect those two forest giants may still be recognized as the second and third largest individuals of the species.
Linda and I drove to Hughes Island yesterday to look for Lewton’s milkwort (Polygala lewtonii). She had a printout of some known GPS locations that we used to locate a few plants to study to establish a “mental search image.” We then spread out and soon began finding more of them, and I’m happy to report that they appear to have a healthy expanding population here. Linda picked this week to look for it because she knew it would be in bloom this month. I was able to get a few decent photographs of this small species, which seldom reaches a height of more than 6 inches.
I hear good things about Hughes Island. It's quite similar to Jones Island in Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. I enjoy that island thoroughly. It's in such an ideal place. I just wish they allowed camping there.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, Buford. Is that your real name?
ReplyDeleteIzzy, I'll have to check that out when I eventually get over there.
ReplyDeletepineyflatwoodsgirl, yes, Buford is my real name. And no, Nature is not my real name. I taught nature at two summer camps in the 1970s, and camp teachers "acquire" as a last name the activity they teach. For example, Bill Smith became Bill Waterfront, Jill Jones became Jill Pottery and Buford became Buford Nature. And I kinda like it!