Get trail maps and information about the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area — and other Indian River County conservation lands — with Indian River County’s new Map App. Click here to check it out.
Nature is everywhere. Enjoy exploring the puzzles & complexities of nature at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area & on this website. You will find some of the plants, insects, and animals that you see here in your yard, along the roadsides, and elsewhere.
The Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (FMEL) will offer its twenty-fourth Volunteer Nature Stewardship Class for the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area(ORCA) in January 2021. How this course will be offered – live, virtual, or some combo thereof – remains uncertain due to coronavirus.
It will provide a foundation for understanding — and enjoying — the common habitats of Indian River County and what you may find in your yard. Field activities definitely will be included.
Class participants will be asked to “volunteer back” and share what they have learned at the ORCA, another nature preserve, a nature center, or another venue. You craft how and where you “volunteer back”.
Nature is everywhere … Enhance your understanding of the plants, insects, animals & complex interactions by reading about the ORCA & other natural areas.
Diversity matters – at least to monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) are the larval host plants for monarch butterfly. Pictured above along Oslo Road is a monarch butterfly nectaring on scarlet milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), a non-native, commercially available…
Spurred butterfly pea (Centrosema virginianum) is a perennial herbaceous vine that is occasionally found growing at Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area (ORCA) and is pictured above engulfing bushy bluestem (Andropogon glomeratus) at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (PINWR). Sometimes you will…
Originally posted on Treasure Coast Natives: Zebra Longwing Heliconius charithonia What’s going on back there under the passionvine foliage?? Look closely…there are two Zebra Longwing Butterflies all a flutter, and a chrysalis. ?We’ll come back to that after some fun…
Juba’s bush (Iresine diffusa) is easily to overlook until it flowers. The genus name, Iresine, is thought to be derived from the Greek word eiros, which means wool. The species name, diffusa, means loosely spreading. Both the genus and species…
Is this fall color? Maybe. Maybe not. This photo was taken on 9-5-2020 at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (PINWR). At a glance it appears that this plant has paired leaves. Look carefully to see that it is poison ivy…
Pictured above is Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) at the Toni Robinson Waterfront Trail (TRWT). This landscape palm is regarded as a Category #2 invasive pest plant by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC). At TRWT, this palm may…
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Hairy cowpea (Vigna luteola) is a twining vine with bright yellow flowers that are held on long flower stalks (pedicels). This member of the pea family, Fabacae, can smother other vegetation, especially…
Thanks to Rick Battle for sharing these beautiful photos from a walk at Captain Forster Hammock Preserve on August 30, 2020. This 110-acre property reaches from Jungle Trail to the Atlantic Ocean. A parking lot and bathrooms are located on…
As I left a local business, I was startled by this stunning display of arrowhead vine (Syngonium podophyllum) growing up a cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto). Also called American evergreen, this vigorous vine that hails from South American is usually found…
The snowberry (Chiococca alba) at Treasure Shores Park was covered in flower buds when we visited on 8-15-2020. Both its genus and species names refer to its snow-white berries. The genus name, Chiococca, comes from the Greek words, chion, which…
You can purchase Paraguayan purslane (Portulaca amilis) and multi-colored cultivars of this succulent groundcover at almost any garden center. This weedy tropical immigrant from South American is shown above “volunteering” at Treasure Shores Park in 2017. Its range in the…
On a visit to Treasure Shores Park on 8/16/2020, we saw a chunky marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris) on the eastern edge of the parking lot. Marsh rabbits are strong swimmers and are almost always found near water. Sometimes, they use…
