Vegetation

     As I stated on my home page the original property was a beautiful mature stand of cypress swamp and live oak/ palmetto mounds and some bottom land hardwood stands and about twenty acres of freshwater marsh that connected to Weeks Canal. Weeks Canal has been leveed and straitened to improve drainage along its route but was once a curvy natural bayou that no doubt flooded properties regularly. Nowadays most properties along the canal are cut off from tidal flux due to the levee, but a gap in the levee approximately 30 feet wide has been cut to allow the ebb and flow of waters into and out of 2/3 of the property and on storm tides it pretty much creeps in and across all of the property.  The salinity is next to nil most of the year but if you follow the canal south only a few miles the salinity level starts to rise slightly into a more brackish regime. Still blue crabs and redfish are caught even north of my land regularly, I have spotted catfish and gar from my levee (and blue crabs) but have yet to throw a cast net or wet a line to see what I might find.
     The entire site has a gentle slope from north to south so the northern third stays drier and in fact that portion was not deemed wetlands by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The southern end is nearly always inundated, and I have never really explored most of it....maybe this winter. The middle third has some higher areas where hardwoods are trying to grow amongst the tallows and I will be targeting this area the most this winter planting more hardwoods and poisoning some tallow.  I decided to leave all the piles of earth and large trees from the original site clearing for wildlife to use in whatever fashion (seen on aerials) they deem useful. My hopes were that some of the piles would be suitable for black bear den sites. I have taken photos of bear on the property (see "The Mammals" page) but so far mostly birds, coyotes, and bobcat have been sighted in the piles. I recleared the upper twenty with my ol 52 ford 8N and since have planted several areas with about 3000 cypress and hardwoods (all natives), and other areas I bushhog on a two-to-three-year interval to allow for a varied level of succession. These areas are dominated by grasses but by the third-year woody species (especially) saltbush Baccharis halimifolia really start to take over. The birds, rabbits, and field rodents (I have not begun to catalog the rodents) seem to love these early successional grass stands. Because these grass areas seem to be so popular by the critters I have enrolled a portion of the land in a US Fish and Wildlife prairie restoration program that will help me re-introduce a multitude of native tall grass and forb species that were once common along the gulf coastal plain. Andy Dolan with USFWS has really helped me through the process and although there will be a lot of labor on my part their program helps with funding for invasive control, prairie seed cost, and site prep that I could not otherwise afford on my own.
     Of course, I will forever battle the invasives on the land but it is already getting easier and more manageable as I work my way north to south across the land. And to be honest I don't know if I want to kill them all off completely just keep them in lower numbers. If you look at most of my bird photo's closely you will see a high percentage of those birds are in tallow trees and although I have not posted any yet the majority of the time those birds are feeding in those tallow trees...take that for what it's worth.



Native Persimmon trees planted seven years ago are fruiting this year for first time! 6/10/17

PassionVine flowering abundantly around the property August 2015
Passion Fruit, August 2015
American Beauty Berry, there was none to be found on the property when I purchased it, but I have been collecting seeds and throwing them around the place the last two years. Now there are several patches popping up in different drier areas.  (September 2014)
Most of the successional grass areas look like this on the second year, lots of brushy broomgrass and  golden rod, and wild vervain but if you look close you'll see the saltbush sneaking in.

White-top sedge seems to be more abundant in the wet grass areas each year.


For weeks I watched this growing in potholes  and flooded areas and thought for sure it was a submerged aquatic...but then all at once these leafy stalks shot up out of the water and as the weeks passed it was apparent that it was all duck potato biding its time waiting to emerge above the waterline.

A lot of the wet grass areas are now carpeted with umbrella grass and white-top sedge.

Vines (18)

 

Campsis radicans

Trumpet-Creeper

Toxicodendron radicans

Eastern Poison-Ivy

Ipomoea cordatotriloba

Tievine

Jacquemontia tamnifolia

Hairy Clustervine

Lonicera japonica

Japanese Honeysuckle

Smilax bona-nox

Saw Green Briar

Smilax hispida

Bristly Green Briar

Ampelopsis arborea

Pepper Vine

Ampelopsis cordata

Raccoon Grape

Vitis aestivalis

Summer Grape

Vitis rotundifolia

Muscadine

Passiflora incarnata

Passion Vine

Passiflora lutea

Yellow Passion Flower

Cardiospermum halicacabum

Balloon Vine

Rhynchosia minima

Least Snoutbean

Matelea gonocarpos

Angularfruit Milkvine

Ipomoea quamoclit

Cypress-Vine

Rosa bracteata

Macartney Rose


Grass, Herbaceous (140)

Acmella repens/ opposotifolia

Opposite Leaf Spotflower

Agrostis perennans

Marsh Bentgrass

Agrotis hyemalis

Ticklegrass

Allium canadense

Wild Onion

Alopecurus carolinianus

Carolina Foxtail Grass

Andropogon glomeratus

Bushy Bluestem

Andropogon virginicus

Broomsedge

Bacopa monnieri

Bacopa

Bidens aristosa

Bearded Beggarticks

Boltonia caroliniana

Carolina False Aster

Carex albolutescens

Sedge

Carex annectens

Golden Foxtail Sedge

Carex cephalophora

One-headed Sedge

Carex cherokeensis

Cherokee Sedge

Carex frankii

Frank’s Sedge

Carex oxylepis

Nodding Sedge

Carex vulpinoidea

Green Foxtail Sedge

Centaurium pulchellum

Beautiful Centaury

Chloris virgata

Feather Fingergrass

Cladium mariscus

Sawgrass

Conoclinium coelestinum

Blue Mistflower

Coreopsis grandiflora

Large Flower Tickseed

Cyperus esculentus

Yellow Nutsedge

Cyperus iria

Rice Field Sedge

Cyperus odoratus

Fragrant Flatsedge

Cyperus pseudovegetus

Cyperus pseudovegetus

Cyperus virens

Green Flatsedge

Dactyloctenium aegyptium

Egypt Grass

Dichanthelium scoparium

Sticky Rosette-grass

Eleocharis baldwinii

Road grass

Eleocharis erythropoda

Bald Spikerush (redbase)

Eleocharis macrostachya

 Great Spikerush

Eleocharis obtusa

Blunt Spikerush

Eleocharis ovata

 Pointed-tipped Spikerush

Eleocharis tenuis

Slender Spikerush(Whitebase)

Eleocharis tuberculosa

Cone-cup Spikerush

Eleusine indica

Indian Goosegrass

Elymus Virginicus

Virginia Wildrye

Equisetum hyemale

Scouring rush/ Horsetail

Erigeron philadelphicus

Daisy Fleabane

Erythrina herbacea

Coral Bean

Eupatorium capillifolium

Dog Fennel

Eupatorium serotinum

Late Boneset

Geranium carolinianum

Carolina Crane’s-bill

Gnaphalium obtusifolium

Cudweed

Helianthus angustifolius

Swamp Sunflower

Hibiscus lasiocarpos

Woolly Rose Mallow

Hibiscus mosheutos

Marsh Mallow

Hypericum hypericoides

St. Andrews Cross

Iris virginica

Virginia Iris

Iva annua

Annual Marsh Elder

Juncus debilis

Slender Rush

Juncus dichotomus

Rush

Juncus effusus

Soft Rush/Common Rush

Juncus interior

 Inland Rush

Juncus polycarpus

Many-headed Rush

Kosteletzkya virginica

Saltmarsh Mallow

Krigia cespitosa

Dwarf False Dandelion

Leersia oryzoides

Rice Cutgrass

Leersia virginica

White Grass

Leptochloa panicea

Red Sprangletop

Leptochloa panicoides

Tall Sprangletop

Lespedeza capitata

Round-head Bush Clover

Liatris pycnostachya

Blazing Star

Linaria canadensis

Toadflax

Lindernia anagallidea

False Pimpernel

Lolium perenne

Perennial Rye Grass

Ludwigia palustris

Marsh Purslane

Lythrum alatum

Winged Loosestrife

Malva rotundifolia

Cheeseweed

Myotis macrosperma

Large-seeded Forget-me-not

Oenothera laciniata

Cut-leaved Evening Primrose

Oxalis dillenii

Smooth Wood Sorrel

Packera glabella

Butterweed

Panicum rigidulum

Redtop Panicum

Paspalum urvillei

Vasy Grass

Phalaris angusta

Narrowleaf Canary Grass

Phyla lanceolata

Lanceleaf Fogfruit

Phytolacca americana

Pokeweed

Plantago pusilla

Small Plantain

Plantago virginica

Virginia Plantain

Pluchea camphorate

Camphor Weed

Poa chapmaniana

Chapman’s Bluegrass

Polygonum hydropiperoides

Swamp Smartweed

Polygonum pensylvanicum L.

Pennsylvania Smartweed

Pontederia cordata

Pickerelweed

Potamogeton pusillus

Small Pondweed

Ptilimnium capillaceum

Mock Bishop’s-weed

Ptilimnium costatum

Mock Bishop’s-weed

Pyrrhopappus carolinianus

Pale False Dandelion

Ranunculus pusillus

Dwarf Buttercup

Ranunculus sceleratus

Cursed Crowfoot

Ranunculus septentrionalis

Marsh Buttercup

Rhynchospora colorata

Narrow-Leaf Whitetop

Rhynchospora corniculata

Shortbristle Horned Beaksedge

Rhynchospora inexpansa

Beaked Rush

Rosa laevigata

Cherokee Rose

Rottboellia cochinchinensis

Itchgrass

Rubus argutus

Common Blackberry

Rubus argutus 

Louisiana Blackberry

Rubus louisianicus

Common Blackberry

Rubus trivialis

Southern Dewberry

Rumex conglomeratus

Congested Dock

Rumex crispus

Curly Dock

Rumex obtusifolius

Bitter Dock

Saccharum giganteum

Giant Plume Grass

Sagittaria lancifolia

Duck Potatoe

Sagittaria latifolia

Common Arrowhead

Samolus parviflorus

Brookweed

Saururus cernuus

Lizards Tail

Schizachyrium scoparium

Little Bluestem

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani

Soft stem Bulrush

Scirpus cyperinus

Wool Grass

Sesbania exaltata

Sicklepod

Setaria parviflora

Marsh Bristlegrass

Setaria pumila

Yellow Foxtail

Sisyrinchium exile

Yellow Blue-eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium minus

Small Blue-eyed Grass

Solanum americanum

Deadly Nightshade

Solanum carolinense

Horse Nettle

Solidago altissima

Tall Goldenrod (Toothed leaf)

Solidago canadensis

Canada Goldenrod

Solidago sempervirens

Seaside Goldenrod

Sonchus asper

Spiny Sow Thistle

Sonchus oleraceus

Common Sow Thistle

Sorghum halepense

Johnson Grass

Specularia biflora

Venus’ Looking-glass

Sphenoclea zeylanica 

Chicken Spike

Sphenopholis obtusata

Prairie Wedge Grass

Symphyotrichum ontarionis

Bottomland Aster

Symphyotrichum tenuifolium

Perennial Salt Marsh Aster

Typha domingensis

Southern Cattail

Valerianella radiata

Corn Salad

Verbena litoralis

Brasilian Vervain

Vernonia gigantea

Giant Ironweed

Veronica peregrina

White Speedwell

Vicia hirsute

Hairy Vetch

Vicia sativa

Garden Vetch

Zizania aquatica

Annual Wild Rice

Zizaniopsis miliacea

Giant Cut Crass


Shrub (14)

 

Morella cerifera

Wax Myrtle

Baccharis halimifolia

SaltBush

Iva frutescens

Jesuit's-Bark

Sabal minor

Dwarf Palmetto

Callicarpa americana

American Beautyberry

Sambucus canadensis

Elderberry

Ligustrum sinense

Chinese Privet

Ilex vomitoria

Yaupon

Cephalanthus occidentalis

Buttonbush

Ilex vomitoria

Yaupon

 Ligustrum sinense

Chinese Privet

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii

Turks Cap

Lantana camara

Lantana

Lantana horrida

Texas Lantana


Trees (36)

 

Acer rubrum

Red Maple

Celtis laevigata

Sugar Berry

Liquidambar styraciflua

Sweet-Gum

Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Green Ash

Taxodium distichum

Southern Bald-Cypress

Quercus laurifolia

Laurel Oak

Quercus michauxii

Swamp Chestnut Oak

Quercus nigra

Water Oak

Quercus phellos

Willow Oak

Quercus texana

Nuttall's Oak

Quercus virginiana

Live Oak

Salix nigra

Black Willow

Gleditsia triacanthos

Honey-Locust

Melia azedarach

Chinaberry Tree

Triadica sebifera

Chinese Tallowtree

Ulmus americana

American Elm

Acacia farnesiana

Sweet Acacia

Carya illinoinensis

Pecan

Carya aquatica

Water Hickory

Cornus drummondii

Rough-Leaf Dogwood

Persea palustris

Swamp Bay

Maclura pomifera

Osage Orange

Cinnamomum camphora

Camphor Tree

Juniperus virginiana

Eastern Red Cedar

Morus rubra

Red Mulberry

Platanus occidentalis

American Sycamore

Castanea mollissima

Chinese Chestnut

Malus angustifolia

Southern Crab Apple

Rhus copallinum

Winged Sumac

Ilex decidua

Deciduous holly

Gleditsia aquatica

Water Locust

Zanthoxylum clava-herculis

Toothache Tree

Diospyros virginiana

Common Persimmon

Aesculus glabra

American Red Buckeye

Diospyros virginiana

Common Persimmon

Crataegus Aestivales

Mayhaw

 

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