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Hillsborough Parks, Preserves In Bloom

By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: November 17, 2008

SUNDANCE - Kick off those loafers and slip into some hiking boots for a leisurely stroll through a sea of gold, yellow and lavender wildflowers blanketing a nature preserve near you.

Although Florida may not have showy displays of bright orange and red leaves, it does have a huge array of wildflowers shrouding the woodlands this time of year: swamp sunflowers, goldenrod in a dozen different species, purple blazing star, salt bush and coreopsis. The list seems nearly endless.

"A lot of these species are common this time of year in the pine flat-woods and wet flat-woods," said Stephen Dickman, an environmental specialist with Hillsborough County's Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program.

Dickman recommends bringing along a guide to help identify the different types of flowers. The book he uses - Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida - is written by University of South Florida botany professors Richard Wunderlin and Bruce Hansen, who also have an online Atlas of Vascular Plants of Florida at www.plantatlas.usf.edu.

BEST WILDFLOWER VIEWING SITES

•Cypress Creek Preserve near Lutz

•Cockroach Creek Preserve in Sundance

•Balm-Boyette Scrub in Riverview

•Upper Little Manatee River in Wimauma

•Blackwater Creek Preserve north of Plant City

•Bell Creek Preserve in Riverview

For a listing of the preserves and brochures with maps, go to http://hillsboroughcounty.org/parks/conservationse....

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or yhammett@tampatrib.com.

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