What follows is a truly serendipitous, fortuitous story of when social media comes through:
Back in 2015, I joined Instagram on my way down to Mobile, Alabama where I would live with my grandparents and hopefully figure out what I was doing next. I ended up taking up a position at the Mobile Botanical Gardens, and I encountered plants I never had before. I used Instagram to post photos. That's when Michelle (@michellerecycles, @badassbotanist) commented on my plant identification requests and started following me. It wasn't too long until I posted a photo that Michelle had to ask Gil Nelson (@idigbiogil) to confirm an ID. From then on, we all stayed in touch about various and sundry plants.
Fast forward to December 2016 when I returned to the U.S. I got in touch with Gil to say hello, let him know I'd returned and that I'd love to come visit him sometime. He offered up the idea of a Trillium walk at the end of January or beginning of February. Yes, of course!!
And he made it happen!
I drove up Saturday, February 4 so I could stop by Torreya State Park, one of the few sites in the world where you can see Torreya taxifolia, Florida nutmeg, one of six living species of the genus and one of, if not THE most, critically endangered conifers in the U.S. I have seen it in the collection at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, but wanted to see it in-situ.
The park was way out in the middle of North Florida, but was well-worth the drive out.
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| The hilly country around the Apalachicola from the top of a hill. |
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| First Trillium of the Trip! We suspected T. underwoodii. |
Click here for more photos of Torreya State Park!
The path I took went down some steep gullies down to the river and I got to see some amazing hillsides of Rhapidophyllum hystrix, Dirca palustris, Trillium underwoodii, Hydrangea quercifolia, Persea palustris and Aesculus pavia. It was a beautiful palette of plants. I got lots of inspiration for a woodland garden.
I stopped by the Gregory House on the way out and had the great fortune of meeting Pam and Bill Anderson, who were a dynamo husband-wife team who've been instrumental in plant conservation at the park. Bill showed me the champion Rhus copallinum, which easily had a 10-inch caliper, while Pam went back to their home and retrieved four cutting-grown saplings of Torreya taxifolia. I look forward to seeing them again.
The next morning I met Gil, Michelle, Jill, and Annika for a day-long road trip to see the four species of Trillium native to Florida.
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The group behind the Torreya taxifolia in the left of the screen.
Rumors said that Torreya used to be huge trees! This one is
just a baby.
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Our first stop was Angus Gholsom Nature Park, where we saw more Trillium underwoodii, Erythronium americanum, our first Torreya taxifolia group, and Zephyranthes atamasca. Michelle exhibited her mad plant selfie skills with some Trillium and Zephyranthes....
The second stop was just on the other side of the neighborhood and featured Aesculus pavia, Trillium lancifolium, and a few new ephemerals, including an herbaceous Smilax and Cardamine concatenata.
The third stop was on a triangle of woodland just near the dam. They'd done a lot of clearing of invasive Elaeagnus, and the Trillium and more herbaceous Smilax were able to thrive. More plant selfies ensued!
The fourth stop was on the edge of the clear waters of the Apalachicola to see a little hillside of Aquilegia canadensis and Trillium maculatum.
The final stop was at Florida Caverns State Park. Gil led us through down a trail of limestone outcrops on the banks of the Chipola River. The park features an underground tour of some of the caverns, but we stayed above ground to see more plants. There was so much Polemnia laevigata, Sabal palmetto, Sabal minor, and more Rhapidophyllum hystrix.
