Florida's Nature/Home

Glossary

Red Florida Wildflowers

Red Wildflowers - Page 1 2

On this page - Firewheel, Tropical Sage, Scarlet Ladies Tresses, Marsh Pink, Nuttall's Meadowbeauty, Procession Flower, Pink Purselane, Florida Paintbrush, Scarlet Milkweed, Feay's Prairieclover, Mexican Clover

Click an image to open a larger version

Firewheel, Blanket Flower - Gaillardia pulchella

Family - Asteraceae

Habitat - Dry Prairies & Flatwoods

Description - Florida native plant, annual or perennial. Subshrub 12 to 24 inches, clump forming, usually wider than tall. Hairy velvety textured stems and alternate oblanceolate to spatulate leaf with serrate margins, 4-8 inches long.

Variable yellow, orange and red flowers, 2-3 inches across in summer and fall. Easily grown from seed, Gaillardia is available in several varieties. Drought tolerant once established, requires well drained soil & is best in full sun. Self seeding & clump forming, allow seed heads to dry thoroughly before collecting. Attractive to Butterflies

Tropical Sage - Salvia coccinea

Family - Lamiaceae ( Mint Family )

Habitat - Hammocks on calcareous soils, Shell mounds

Description -Native annual or perennial herb to 3 feet. Leaves ovate to cordate, margin crenate. Stems square, hairy. Grown from seed & will re-seed itself year to year.

Flower- Bright red and tubular, 1 1/4 inch, 2 lipped; upper lip 2 lobed, lower lip 3 lobed with protruding stamens and style, whorled in long clusters. Attracts Butterflies & Humming birds, drought tolerant when established but should be watered during extended dry spells to enhance blooming. Full sun to light intermittent shade.

Scarlet Ladies' Tresses, Leafless Beaked Orchid - Sacoila lanceolata

Family - Orchidaceae

Habitat - Moist to dry open flatwoods, Pastures, Roadsides

Description - Native Florida terrestrial orchid, threatened specie. No leaves present at flowering, the basil rosette of six inch, elliptic to lanceolate shaped leaves appear after flowering which may occur only every 2-3 years and after the first spring rains. Leaves are present until cooler winter weather arrives.

Flower - Coral to Orange-Red with pale red to white lip, 9 - 50 flowers are clustered on a 2  foot inflorescence. There is a variety which produces green flowers and a rare yellow or golden form as well.

Largeflower Rosegentian - Sabatia grandiflora

Family - Gentianaceae

Habitat - Wet prairie, Wet Pineland, margins of freshwater marshes.

Description - Native annual herb to 3 feet. Linear to filiform leaves 1 1/2 to nearly 4 inches long

Flower - Bright pink, 1 1/4 - 2 inches across, usually solitary. Marsh Pinks often form small colonies giving the appearance of a multiple flowered single plant.

Nuttall's Meadowbeauty - Rhexia nuttallii

Family - Melastomatacae

Habitat - Marshes, Moist and wet Flatwoods

Description - Native herbaceous perennial, 4-8 inches tall. Leaves opposite, ovate.

Flower - Pinkish-purple, 4 petals, 1 inch across.

Procession Flower - Polygala incarnata

Family - Polygalaceae

Habitat - Dry Prairie, Flatwoods

Description - Annual herbaceous wildflower native to Florida, growing on well drained, dry sandy soils. 8-24 inches tall, leaves are alternate, linear.

Flower - Dense clusters purplish-pink flowers on a tall un-branched inflorescence.

Pink Purselane - Portulaca pilosa

Family - Portulacaceae

Habitat - Open areas of flatwoods, disturbed sites.

Description - Native wildflower. Annual or Perennial, Forb, Herb, 1 to 6 inches in height, often prostrate in growth habit. Leaves are fleshy, somewhat succulent in appearance. Usually found on sandy, dry soils.

Flower - Pink to purplish, 5/8 inch across, blooms throughout the year in South Florida.

Florida Paintbrush - Carphephorus corymbosus

Family - Asteraceae

Habitat - Sandhill, moist to wet flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods.

Description - Florida paintbrush is a native perennial herbaceous wildflower to 3 feet when flowering, basal rosette of spatulate leaves, 1 to 3 inches tall. A butterfly nectar plant.

Flower - Purplish-pink on a tall densely pubescent corymb with sessile leaves.

Scarlet Milkweed - Asclepias curassavica

Family - Apocynaceae

Habitat - Pasturelands, ruderal.

Description - Not Native. Perennial sub-shrub, 3 to 4 feet tall. Naturalized in central and south Florida. Often grows with pairs of symmetrically arranged stems, leaves are alternate, narrowly oblong to lanceolate, 4 - 8 inches long with entire margins and parallel venation.   

Flower - Clusters of brilliant orange and red flowers, attractive to butterflies which are immune to its toxins.

Feay's Prairieclover - Dalea feayi

Family - Fabaceae

Habitat - Scrub, Scrubby Flatwoods

Description - Native Florida herbaceous wildflower, perennial, height 18-24 inches, leaves are linear, opposite. Globose spikes of numerous small pink flowers.

Largeflower Mexican Clover - Richardia grandiflora

Family - Rubiaceae

Habitat - Disturbed areas, roadsides

Description - Introduced to Florida from S. America, height 4-6 inches, forms dense mats, a common lawn weed in S. Florida.

Flower - Small, white to pinkish-lavender color.

Red Flower Galleries 1 2

Copyright 2008 - 2010 Ed Weislo / Privacy Policy & Terms of Use / Site Map