Monday was Princess Place. Tuesday was Bulow Woods – Middle Section.

On Monday, I saw some more Pawpaw shrubs in pinewoods:

https://search.brave.com/search?q=florida+native+pawpaw&source=desktop

The shorter variety with smaller leaves was fuzzy to the touch, while the larger variety had bigger leaves and stood taller. I couldn’t estimate how old the plants are, other than the small caliper pines were probably less than 15 years old. While Princess Place is a county park, in some of the outlying areas, they do appear to periodically cut the trees for extra revenue.

I also spotted some Pinewood Milkweed which had very distinctive leaves and flowers.

Since the pinewoods don’t have a lot of flowers, these… the pawpaws and the milkweed, really caught my attention.

https://search.brave.com/images?q=pinewood+milkweed&source=web

I also noticed some pond lilies in bloom:

Sorry if the photo is a little over-exposed. I was peeking through a layer of saw palmetto…

Florida has several native blueberry species. This one was very tall and standing on the edge of a clearing where it received good lighting. I have no idea just how big the berries will be having never seen them in fruit, but I would imagine they’ll be smaller than the cultivated varieties.

I found the magnolia just off the trail, a small tree with shiny evergreen leaves. It wasn’t heavily scented like Magnolia grandiflora or Southern Magnolia.

https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/trees-and-shrubs/trees/sweetbay-magnolia.html

As you can see, I’m fascinated by plants and really enjoy learning more about them even as I take these forest walks. The small magnolia was growing amidst smaller oaks and tall slender pines. It is also interesting to begin to recognize the various microclimates in the region that I encounter. Just a matter of feet can change the shrubs and trees you are seeing, as well as the soil dampness, sunlight, and ground coverage.

A marshy open area. You can’t walk in such a place as you would probably lose your shoes in gooey mud.

I managed to walk a complete loop, combining two trails and then returning along the Pellicer Creek Campsite road to the main access road, crossing it and following the combined Hominy Branch/Equestrian Trail back to where I had parked my car. The last time I attempted this loop, I was halted by a vast puddle that lay across my path. The mud had dried up a bit so I could carefully pick my way around the worst patches and make my way towards Stiles Creek and the little campground there.

This post is getting long so I’ll make another post for my Bulow Woods hike.

Eliza

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