One of the most striking of winter-flowering trees found in southern Florida is the African Tulip Tree, Spathodea campanulata. This fast-grower is monotypic, i.e., the sole species in its genus. It is native to tropical areas of western and central Africa, where it can reach about 80 ft. in height, but in our part of…
Read more
Maybe you’ve noticed lately that knowing what is true has become rather elusive. For instance, can both of the following statements be true? (1) Bougainvillea is one of the most colorful vines in the world. (2) The flowers of Bougainvillea are small and inconspicuous. The answer is yes. That’s because the features that produce the…
Read more
When Dr. Edwin Menninger bemoaned the “solid green” of Florida’s native flora, he must have forgotten about Salvia coccinea. If you want to add brilliant color to your home landscape, please consider this striking native shrub. Commonly known as Scarlet Sage, this herbaceous perennial from the family of lamiaceae is native to a huge range from South Carolina…
Read more
Does the name ‘azadirachtan’ ring a bell? It probably should, because it is a hugely versatile chemical compound that has made the neem tree legendary in India and surrounding lands for some 2,000 years. And chances are that its full medicinal and insecticidal potential has yet to be tapped. The neem tree (Azadirachta indica), a…
Read more
From time to time in this space, we report on the course of citrus greening in Florida. Citrus greening is a bacterial disease spread primarily by an insect known as a psyllid, and its presence in the state has been documented since 2005. The disease has had a devastating effect on commercial production here. Unfortunately,…
Read more