Demystifying Illicium in Florida

Illicium floridanum has red flowers and dark green leaves alternatly spiralled around the stem with a bluntly pointed leaf tip. There are two synonyms which are thought of as commercial cultivars by the horticultural community.

Illicium floridanum forma album F.G. Meyer & Mazzeo, (Sida 15:285 1992). These plants have white flowers instead of red. It was found along a stream NW of Monticello on 14 Apr 1988 and I have heard has a very restricted range in Florida and Alabama. This forma is available at Breezy Oaks Nursery in Hawthorn and sold as an “albino” flower.

There is a Mexican population of I. floridanum which is sometimes referred to by what is considered to be its synonym
Illicium mexicanum A.C. Smith (Sargentia 7:39 1947). – The type specimen was collected in Veracruz Mexico in 1912. Some horticulturalists make a distinction between the two for commercial reasons. It has been referred to in the paleobotanical literature trying to determine the origin of angiosperms.

Illicium parviflorum is available locally. Its dark green leaves have rounded tips. Yellow flowers bloom in early summer are ½ inch wide. It has been suggested as a replacement for Photinia X fraseri. Its range extends from zones 6 to 9. It is found in the wild around central Florida and in southern Georgia.

Illicium anisetum is the imported species from China, Japan, Korea, Ryukyus and Taiwan. It has elliptic lighter green leaves than those of I. parviflorum that are very aromatic. Mid spring flowers are white to creamy yellow but are often sheared off to maintain the size of the rapidly growing shrub.

Illicium henryi (Henry anise-tree) comes from western China. It has a pointed apex on the leaf and variegated pink, white, red flowers. It grows throughout growing ranges 7 to 9.

For a good summary on the variety of Illicium grown in the United States I found this summary:
(http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/publications/newsletters/ncsu_arboretum_newsletters/News23_92-08.html)

Today is my Birthday

On this day 51 years ago in the evening I was born in Toronto in the middle of the city. World War II was fresh on everybody's minds and reform was fervor. Humanity was determined not to repeat the same mistake. I would eventually be absorbed into the spirit and participate at an early age in the civil rights movement and later the peace movement.

The environmental movement was subservient to the to both the civil rights movement and the peace movement. In the 21 st century the environmental movement eclipses both movements and often includes them. My interests in Botany and Chemistry were stimulated by the assault over population was having on nature. As world population explodes fresh water supplies no longer seem infinite as the used to.

When I started what would become Paul Cohen's Earth Friendly Plant Care it was a spur of the moment. The grower at Grandiflora Nursery (then San Felasco Nursery) asked my what my business name was. I was previously using Amaryllis Landscaping but thought Earth Friendly Plant Care was more appropriate. Thus Earth Friendly Plant Care was born in order to buy a handful of landscape plants. Soon afterwards the motto "Building a better ecosystem one yard at a time" was invented.

Today a closet full of equipment, a yard full of natives, and eight acres of Florida sand hill for seed stock are incorporated into the business. Three cold shelters keep the plants warm in the winter when the temperatures dip below freezing, as it is apt to do a few times in the North Central Florida in December, January and February. A few strategies are implemented to maintain native plants from a wide range of ecosystems.

Morning has Broken

Tomorrow is my birthday and I am working on my first post.