It feels very special to come upon something endemic to Florida.
This week we saw THREE things endemic to Florida.
Endemic meaning - Native to or limited to a certain region
The Florida Scrub Jay is found in 2 locations that we hike.
We can usually see some on a back loop of old Limerock Road from the 49th Ave Trailhead of the Florida Trails.
And we always see them when we hike Halpata Tastanaki Preserve from the SR 200 trailhead.
Photos taken at HTP
This is a good website HERE but there are others featuring the Florida Scrub Jay if you do a search.
Which bring us to the Longspurred Mint.
Dicerandra Cornutissima
A good website with info HERE.
It is only found in Marion County, FL and possibly Sumter County.
There are only 15 known occurrences remaining.
I found them blooming on the Florida Trails 49th Ave Trailhead. Photos taken of the plants on Bluebird of Happiness Hill near the hwy 484 trailhead.
They are just starting to bloom right now.
The Garberia is in full bloom all through the forest and it is endemic to Florida as well.
More info HERE.
How privileged I am to see these amazing things in the beautiful state of Florida.
We are still praying for everyone devastated by Hurricane Ian and I am still limiting my time on the computer to get some things done. The weather is gorgeous now so I am hiking more too.
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