UF/IFAS GLOBAL BLOGS
Florida is home to many native plants and knowing what plant you are looking at isn’t always easy. Today, we are going to focus on just two, similar looking, native, vining plants: poison ivy and Virginia creeper. Why these two species? Let’s find out! Have you heard the saying “leaves of three, let it be; leaves of… Read More
I’ve been getting this question a lot lately: “What kind of frog is this?” It is rainy season after all, and rain tends to bring out the frogs. In Florida, rainy season extends from May through October, so… Read More
Florida is home to five resident owl species (resident = species here year-round) which are fairly easy to identify, and one migratory species (short-eared owl, not discussed here). If they are easy to identify … why the Commonly… Read More
As promised in my “The Little Oaks Part I”, here we will explore two more species of shrubby oaks; these are little, I’m talking, like three feet max. The two species we will examine today are running oak… Read More
There are 26 species of oaks vouchered in Florida, 10 of which have been found in Pinellas County. While oaks are often known for being these massive trees, did you know we have four species of scrubby/shrubby oaks… Read More
In Florida, we have 46 native species of snakes. Thankfully, only 6 of those species are venomous. In Central Florida, we have 35 of Florida’s native snake species and only 4 of the 6 venomous species found in… Read More
We are probably all familiar with cherries, the fruit we get to enjoy this time of year. But today I want to talk about the cherry trees we have here in Florida, which unfortunately aren’t the same ones… Read More
As an educator I shouldn’t do this, but I’m going to assume most of you have heard about or are familiar with the Brazilian Pepper-Tree (Schinus terebinthifolius). This plant has a super bad reputation because of its very… Read More
Knowing how to identify these species from afar can make outdoor activities more enjoyable and create a deep connection to the wildlife habitat we live near. All of the birds discussed below are easy to identify with a… Read More
You’ve probably heard people refer to a tree as a “bay” at some point. There are many different types of “bay” trees, but today we are going to focus on how to tell a redbay (Persea borbonia) from… Read More
