Hammock 1 Snapshot Information and Images
Note: You will encounter the term “stipule” repeatedly below. Here is a stipule review.
Note: You will encounter the term “stipule” repeatedly below. Here is a stipule review.
Coral Bean
Erythrina herbacea (err-ah-THRY-nah her-BASE-ee-ah)
This hammock and dune legume is a thorny shrub or small tree. The compound leaves have three leaflets, and these are lobed. The showy hummingbird-pollinated flowers are red and tubular. The fruit is a legume pod containing large seeds having red and black markings.
Erythrina herbacea (err-ah-THRY-nah her-BASE-ee-ah)
This hammock and dune legume is a thorny shrub or small tree. The compound leaves have three leaflets, and these are lobed. The showy hummingbird-pollinated flowers are red and tubular. The fruit is a legume pod containing large seeds having red and black markings.
Dull Leaf Coffee
Psychotria sulzneri (sigh-COAT-tree-ah SULZ-ner-eye)
This is a shrub of shaded hammocks and sometimes pine woodlands. The opposite leaves have an attractive dull flat-toned dark green surface, and stipules. Numerous small white flowers are followed by reddish berries. The similar Wild Coffee has bright green glossy leaves.
Psychotria sulzneri (sigh-COAT-tree-ah SULZ-ner-eye)
This is a shrub of shaded hammocks and sometimes pine woodlands. The opposite leaves have an attractive dull flat-toned dark green surface, and stipules. Numerous small white flowers are followed by reddish berries. The similar Wild Coffee has bright green glossy leaves.
Gumbo Limbo
Bursera simaruba (BURSE-ah-rah sim-ah-RUBE-ah)
Everybody knows the Gumbo Limbo tree by its peeling green and coppery bark. The leaves are pinnately compound, the leaflets on short often-reddish stalks. The small greenish white flowers in winter are followed by small fruits that eventually become reddish. A landscaping tree, Gumbo Limbo grows rapidly. Young Gumbo Limbos resembles Poisonwood, but Gumbo Limbo has reddish stalks on the leaflets, and Poisonwood tends to have black blotches on the foliage and on older stems.
Bursera simaruba (BURSE-ah-rah sim-ah-RUBE-ah)
Everybody knows the Gumbo Limbo tree by its peeling green and coppery bark. The leaves are pinnately compound, the leaflets on short often-reddish stalks. The small greenish white flowers in winter are followed by small fruits that eventually become reddish. A landscaping tree, Gumbo Limbo grows rapidly. Young Gumbo Limbos resembles Poisonwood, but Gumbo Limbo has reddish stalks on the leaflets, and Poisonwood tends to have black blotches on the foliage and on older stems.
Muscadine Grape
Vitis rotundifolia (VYE-tus row-tund-ah-FOAL-ee-ah)
This grape vine is one of the most conspicuous vines in our area. You see it almost everywhere, often abundantly. The leaves are vaguely heart-shaped, more or less hairless, and with toothed margins. The numerous flowers are greenish white, followed by grapes. The thin kinky twist-tie organs are called tendrils. They help the grape cling and climb.
Vitis rotundifolia (VYE-tus row-tund-ah-FOAL-ee-ah)
This grape vine is one of the most conspicuous vines in our area. You see it almost everywhere, often abundantly. The leaves are vaguely heart-shaped, more or less hairless, and with toothed margins. The numerous flowers are greenish white, followed by grapes. The thin kinky twist-tie organs are called tendrils. They help the grape cling and climb.
Paradise Tree
Simarouba glauca (sim-ah-RUBE-ah GLAU-cah)
Paradise Tree is a hammock regular. The tree has large glossy compound leaves, with even-shaped and smooth-edged leaflets. The tree is attractive in landscaping. The small flowers are in huge branched clusters; the olive-shaped fruits pass through a pretty orange phase and then darken. This tree is related to the invasive urban tree of northern cities called Tree-of-Heaven.
Simarouba glauca (sim-ah-RUBE-ah GLAU-cah)
Paradise Tree is a hammock regular. The tree has large glossy compound leaves, with even-shaped and smooth-edged leaflets. The tree is attractive in landscaping. The small flowers are in huge branched clusters; the olive-shaped fruits pass through a pretty orange phase and then darken. This tree is related to the invasive urban tree of northern cities called Tree-of-Heaven.
Snowberry
Chiococca alba (kee-oh-KOK-ah AL-bah)
Snowberry is another standard hammock species, a member of the Coffee Family. It is sort of a vine, sort of a shrub, usually growing leaning on other vegetation. The opposite leaves have a stipule. Not very showy, the flowers are small and cream-colored. The berries are little white snowballs, white on the inside as well as on the outside. Also with white berries on dunes and in hammocks, White Indigo Berry (Randia aculeata) is a shrub with the externally white fruits dark on the inside.
Chiococca alba (kee-oh-KOK-ah AL-bah)
Snowberry is another standard hammock species, a member of the Coffee Family. It is sort of a vine, sort of a shrub, usually growing leaning on other vegetation. The opposite leaves have a stipule. Not very showy, the flowers are small and cream-colored. The berries are little white snowballs, white on the inside as well as on the outside. Also with white berries on dunes and in hammocks, White Indigo Berry (Randia aculeata) is a shrub with the externally white fruits dark on the inside.
White Stopper
Eugenia axillaris (you-GENE-ee-ah axe-ah-LAIR-us)
Several Stoppers live in Florida, although only two are common in our local hammocks, White Stopper and Spanish Stopper. (Simpson Stopper is abundant in cultivation.) All Stoppers have opposite leaves with no stipule. In White Stopper the leaf tips are pointed (W is a pointed letter), and in Spanish Stopper they are rounded (S is a rounded letter). The air around White Stoppers often smells a little skunky. Don’t mistake Florida Privet for a stopper. Florida Privet looks like a stopper in general appearance and has opposite leaves, but Florida Privet distinctively has conspicuous white spots (lenticels) on its branches. The last image in the sequence is Spanish Stopper, Eugenia foetida, with its rounded leaves.
Eugenia axillaris (you-GENE-ee-ah axe-ah-LAIR-us)
Several Stoppers live in Florida, although only two are common in our local hammocks, White Stopper and Spanish Stopper. (Simpson Stopper is abundant in cultivation.) All Stoppers have opposite leaves with no stipule. In White Stopper the leaf tips are pointed (W is a pointed letter), and in Spanish Stopper they are rounded (S is a rounded letter). The air around White Stoppers often smells a little skunky. Don’t mistake Florida Privet for a stopper. Florida Privet looks like a stopper in general appearance and has opposite leaves, but Florida Privet distinctively has conspicuous white spots (lenticels) on its branches. The last image in the sequence is Spanish Stopper, Eugenia foetida, with its rounded leaves.
Wild Coffee
Psychotria nervosa (sigh-COAT-ree-ah nerve-OH-sah)
See the Blog
Equally prominent in landscaping and in nature, Wild Coffee is a species to enjoy. The glossy opposite leaves are far more shiny than Dull Coffee. Both have opposite leaves with stipules. The “nervosa” in the name refers to the leaf veins (nerves) which are indented. The flowers are small and white, and heterostylous. (Read about heterostyly in the blog.) The red fruits resemble small coffee beans. They are not edible. In the Coffee Family, Psychotria is one of the largest genera of broadleaf plants with over 1000 species.
Psychotria nervosa (sigh-COAT-ree-ah nerve-OH-sah)
See the Blog
Equally prominent in landscaping and in nature, Wild Coffee is a species to enjoy. The glossy opposite leaves are far more shiny than Dull Coffee. Both have opposite leaves with stipules. The “nervosa” in the name refers to the leaf veins (nerves) which are indented. The flowers are small and white, and heterostylous. (Read about heterostyly in the blog.) The red fruits resemble small coffee beans. They are not edible. In the Coffee Family, Psychotria is one of the largest genera of broadleaf plants with over 1000 species.
Wild Lime
Zanthoxylum fagara (xan-THOX-ah-lum FAY-gah-rah)
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Wild Lime is in the Citrus Family but it is not really a lime. It is a small tree or shrub with sharp thorns and dark green compound leaves. The leaves have tiny flecks in the leaflets, a winged stalk running up the middle, and strong fragrance when crushed. The flowers are small, and so are the fruits, about the size of BB’s, in large numbers. Additional local hammock citrus are Hercule’s Club, Zanthoxylum clavis-herculis, with big translucent dots in the compound leaves and thorns on the trunk, and Torchwood, Amyris elemifera, with opposite leaves having three leaflets. They all smell like citrus when crushed.
Zanthoxylum fagara (xan-THOX-ah-lum FAY-gah-rah)
See the Blog
Wild Lime is in the Citrus Family but it is not really a lime. It is a small tree or shrub with sharp thorns and dark green compound leaves. The leaves have tiny flecks in the leaflets, a winged stalk running up the middle, and strong fragrance when crushed. The flowers are small, and so are the fruits, about the size of BB’s, in large numbers. Additional local hammock citrus are Hercule’s Club, Zanthoxylum clavis-herculis, with big translucent dots in the compound leaves and thorns on the trunk, and Torchwood, Amyris elemifera, with opposite leaves having three leaflets. They all smell like citrus when crushed.