Enjoy the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area
440 acres adjacent to the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida/IFAS
On a group walk to the Observation Tower at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area (ORCA) on 8-14-2009, we encountered this husky Florida water snake (Nerodia fasciata pictiventris). These semi-aquatic snakes are found throughout the southeast. They are NOT poisonous but,…
A visit to the Sebastian Stormwater Park on 8/8/2020 was opportunity to see an unfortunate array of invasive plants, mega-weeds. Seeing the proverbial silver lining, Karen Schuster (Class of 2007) remarked that property could have "grown homes". This 163 acre…
Florida is home to 34 species of hypericums, yellow wildflowers with many stamens and 4 or 5 petals. Their confused and confusing common names often honor saints. St. Johns-wort (Hypericum perforatum) is widely sold as an herbal medicine to treat…
The first time that I saw shoebutton ardisia (Ardisia elliptica) was in the mid-1990's, when some Florida Department of Natural Resources biologists took me to a tributary of the St. Lucie River to identify a plentiful plant. It was shoebutton…
Enjoy the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area 