Florida pellitory (Parietaria floridana), a cool season annual, now carpets some of the disturbed areas in the mesic hammock at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area (ORCA). Florida pellitory long has been present at ORCA but never to this extent.
Though native, Florida pellitory can be quite weedy, as seen in a photo taken in a neighbor’s less-than-healthy grassed yard …
Clear weed is another common name for this plant which has fragile translucent stems …
Florida pellitory blooms from January through May. Its tiny flowers are greenish, inconspicuous, and held in the leaf axils (angles). Its wind-borne pollen is a severe allergen, and its tiny wind-borne seeds result in lots of seedlings, as shown in our dirt driveway …
The red admiral butterfly (Vanessa atlanta rubria) uses Florida pellitory as a larval food. Nonetheless, I do hand-pull some of the seedlings in our yard because more there always seem to be plenty more seedlings to come. This native annual is not deeply rooted and is easily extricated.
Enjoy the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area 