Pretty Pollinators

Donna Winter (Class of 2016) led a wonderful walk for us, on behalf of the Indian River Land Trust (IRLT), at the Indian River Lagoon Greenway on Sunday, November 24, 2019. Most of this property was purchased by Indian River County with funds from the first land acquisition bond referendum, and some of the coastal wetlands originally were part of McKee Jungle Gardens, part of which was purchased for preservation by a not-for-profit organization that “spun off” the IRLT.

The sea myrtle (Baccharis halimifolia) was flowering fabulously.  Donna shared that this plant, also commonly known as saltbush or groundsel tree, has colonized the area from which massive Australian pine (Casuarina sp.) were cleared.

Sea myrtle is dioecious:  Female and male flowers occur on different plants.  Female sea myrtles are festooned in the fall with silvery clusters of hairs that help to “parachute” the seeds about.  The flowers of male sea myrtles are yellowish and far less showy.

George Bollis photographed a plethora of pollinators visiting female sea myrtles, including an European honeybee (Apis mellifera) …

… a brown-winged striped sweat bee (Agapostemon splendors) …

… and a fulvous hairstreak butterfly (Electrostrymon angelica) identified by Donna Winter …

Saltbush is a fast-growing, drought and salt-tolerant plant that ranges as far north as the mid-Atlantic states in coastal areas.  Though nondescript most of the year, it can be quite showy in the fall.