Florida wildflowers

November Wildflowers in Key West

Key West Field Guide, vegetable

Click on the flower names at the bottom of this post for more images and links to species information.

  • Citron zephyrlily
  • Creeping sourgrass
  • Sleepy morning
  • Bitter melon
  • Straggler daisy
  • Least snoutbean
  • Pencilflower
  • Bracted fanpetals
  • Jamaican feverweed
  • Common purslane
  • Snow squarestem
  • False shrubby buttonweed
  • Yellow joyweed
  • Santa Maria feverfew
  • Pillpod sandmat
  • Virginia pepperweed
  • False daisy
  • Coatbuttons
  • Erect spiderling
  • Turkey tangle fogfruit
  • Spanish needles
  • Silverhead
  • Seaside heliotrope
  • Beach naupaka
  • Coastal sea rocket
  • Goatweed
  • Tex-Mex tobacco
  • Shoreline purslane
  • Guinea hen weed
  • Whitemouth dayflower
  • Grannybush
  • Powderpuff
  • Railroad vine
  • Baybean
  • Lilac tasselflower
  • Beggar’s-ticks
  • Scarlet spiderling
  • Creeping indigo
  • Painted leaf
  • Carry me seed
  • ID pending

December Wildflowers – Key West 2018

Key West Field Guide, vegetable

I love living in a place where I can find new (to me) wildflowers blooming for Christmas. December not only added nine more species to my repertoire, but kept several of my faithful fall favorites in bloom.

Here’s my roundup of all the wildflowers that I found blooming in Key West during the month of December. Click on the common names to visit the individual species’ pages.

Bushy seaside oxeye

Key West Field Guide, vegetable

Borrichia frutescens

All the field guides I’ve looked at show bushy seaside oxeye blooming in full glory with a thick rim of ray flowers and topped with black anthers, but I most often see it sporting few, if any, ray flowers.

Borrichia frutescens flower bud and leaf in profile
Borrichia frutescens with only disc flowers
Borrichia frutescens flower with new ray flowers
Borrichia frutescens with reflexed ray petals
Borrichia frutescens gone to seed

Find more info here.

Brazilian jasmine

Key West Field Guide, vegetable

Jasminum fluminense

Previously, this invasive plant was recognized as one of two different species in Florida, (J. azoricum and J. bahiense) based on minor appearances and geographic distributions, but the current accepted name is Jasminum fluminense.

  • Brazilian jasmine
  • 5-7 petals
  • tube is longer than petals and slightly curved

Black nightshade

Key West Field Guide, vegetable

Solanum chenopodioides

  • nodding flowers
  • multiple flowers
  • unripe green berries
  • ripe berries
  • underside of leaves
  • flowers, leaves, and fruits

Black nightshade (Solanum chenopodioides) growing curbside in Key West. The features that differentiate it from other nightshade species:

  • all surfaces with simple hairs
  • no stellate hairs
  • no prickles
  • black fruits when ripe

Find more info here.

Tearshrub

Key West Field Guide, vegetable

Vallesia antillana

  • Vallesia antillana flowers
  • Vallesia antillana fruit
  • Vallesia antillana fruit

An endangered species in the Florida Keys, this individual is being nurtured by the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden. Someday, I hope to find a wild specimen.

Find more info here.