Joe Carroll (Class of Fall 1998) took Bob Bruce and me to Little & "Big" Prange Islands on Father's Day. Accessible only by boat and purchased for conservation in 1996 by Indian River County, these islands -- mostly real and…
Category: Pollinator Plants
Pollination ‘cuts’ both ways
A Fathers' Day field trip to Prange Island compliments of Joe Carroll (Class of Fall 1998) began with a look at an invasive pest plant, Beach naupaka (Scaevola taccada), being pollinated by a European honeybee. This plant has 'volunteered' upland…
Pollen-ator
Flowers 'reward' their pollinators with nectar and pollen. Above a southern carpenter bee (Xylocopa micans), identifiable in part by its "shiny hiney", heads toward a partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata). The nickel to quarter-sized flowers of this member of the Fabaceae…
Saw ‘Pollinator’ Palmetto
Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) flowers attract more than 300 species of pollinators according to Dr. Mark Deyrup of Archibold Biological Station. From saw palmetto European honeybees (Apis mellifera) produce an excellent non-granulating honey. Each inflorescence likely contains several thousand flowers…
Enjoy the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area 