Plant of the Month
The Pawpaw Chapter features a different native plant at each meeting where one of our members talks about the plant. Normally the presentation includes photos, a description and/or features of the plant, usually including personal observations and experience with this particular native and often historical or ethnobotanical information as well. Recently the Pawpaw Chapter has followed a theme each year.
Coming in 2022 - Creepers & Kneelers
Creepers & Kneelers will be a focus on vines and ground covers and those little annuals in the grasses we like to kneel down to see closer, with an opportunity to promote more eco-friendly lawn and landscape choices to help replacement of invasives and minimizing fertilizers and insecticides.
The plant of the month theme for 2021 is Hedge Your Bets
Our favorite native shrubs for screening, alternately featuring plants for both sun and shade.
January: Salt bush - Baccharis halimifolia - Peter Sigmann
February - Bay-cedar - Suriana maritima - Paul Rebmann
March - Jamaica caper - Quadrella jamaicensis - Melissa Lammers
April: Florida privet - Forestiera segregata - Leslie Nixon
June: Walter's viburnum - Viburnum obovatum - Karen Walter
July: Seagrape - Coccolobo uvifera - Paul Rebmann
August: Myrsine - Myrsine cubana - Danny Young
September: Marlberry - Ardisia escallonioides - Kate Muldoon
October: Yellow anise - Illicium parviflorum - Sande habali
November: Wax Myrtle - Morella cerifera - Leslie Nixon
2020 - Butterfly Buffets and Caterpillar Cafes
Native plants that are larval hosts or nectar sources for various Lepidoptera.
Jan. - Pine Ily - Lillium catesbaei (Cathy Lowenstein)
Feb. - Spanish needles - Bidens alba (Jane Andrews)
Mar. - Buttonsage - Lantana involucrata (Doug Hunt)
Apr. - Frogfruit - Phyla nodiflora (Carol Hawkins)
May - Partridge pea - Chamaecrista fasciculata ( Sande Habali)
June - Powder puff - Mimosa strigillosa (Paul Rebmann)
July - Ironweed - Vernonia spp. (Katie Tripp)
Aug. - Doctorbush - Plumbago zeylanica (Leslie Nixon)
Sept. - Scorpionstail - Heliotropum angiospermum (Katie Tripp)
Oct. - Spurred butterfly pea - Centrosema virginianum (Samantha West)
Nov. - White passionflower - Passiflora incarnata forma alba - (Karen Walter)
2019 - Flowering Favorites for our Feathered Friends
Native plants that provide food and/or shelter for birds.
Jan. - Wild coffee - Psychotria nervosa (Sande Habali)
Feb. - Yellow jessamine - Gelsemium sempervirens (Samantha West)
Mar. - Blood sage - Salvia coccinea (Megan Pritore)
Apr. - Tree sparkleberry - Vaccinium arboreum (Doug Hunt)
May - Red buckeye - Aesculus pavia (Judi Van Horn)
June - Firebush - Hamelia patens (Karen Walter)
July - Pokeweed - Phytolacca americana (Nancy Hull)
Aug. - Devil's-Walkingstick & Hercules’ Club - Aralia spinosa & Zanthoxylum clava-herculis (Ellen Nelson)
Sept - American beautyberry - Callicarpa americana (Sonya Guidry)
Oct. - Spotted beebalm - Monarda puctata (Peter Sigmann)
Nov. - Chapman's & seaside goldenrod - Solidago odora & Solidago sempervirens (Carol Hawkins)
2018 - Prickly Plants for Pollinators and Privacy
Native plants to keep people out and let nature in.
Jan. - ?
Feb. - Wild lime - Zanthoxylum fagara (Mark Wheeler)
Mar. - White indigoberry - Randia aculeata (Doug Hunt)
Apr. - Sweet acacia - Vachellia farnesiana var. farnesiana (Paul Rebmann)
May - Coralbean - Erythrina herbacea (Karen Walter)
June - Hercules club - Zanthoxylum cava-herculis (Dot Backes)
July - Sawtooth blackberry - Rubus pensilvanicus (Warren Reynolds)
Aug. - Hogplum - Ximenia americana (Sonya Guidry)
Sept. - Prickly-pear - Opuntia spp. (Nancy Hull)
Oct. - Buckthorn - Sideroxylon spp. (fka Bumelia spp.) (Sande Habali)
Nov. - Christmasberry - Lycium carolinianum (Danny Young)
Month - Plant common name - Scientific name (presentor)
NO plant of the month in December due to the annual Holiday native olant auction
