tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1563617538751855242.post8000736889956310591..comments2023-11-10T16:11:08.575-08:00Comments on Simply Living: Cottony groundsel blooms of winter are Florida's snowflakessherry boashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07310105811887347118noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1563617538751855242.post-26629156239961431552011-11-11T08:26:32.670-08:002011-11-11T08:26:32.670-08:00Great blog, Sherry
Thanks for the lovely essay on...Great blog, Sherry<br /><br />Thanks for the lovely essay on the wonderful groundsel, Baccharis halimifolia. In my area, they also refer to it as eastern baccharis. I have several in my backyard that appeared as volunteers and I've really come to appreciate them - not being showy ornamentals, they are often overlooked and undervalued. Interestingly, unlike most plants, they are dioecious, the male and female occurring as separate plants. The females have the cottony white blooms as you described, the male has less showy, yellow flowers. In addition to the wildlife cover and flower nectar for butterflies you mentioned, they also exude sap that attract several species of birds and insects (including some butterflies and moths). Spiders and predatory insects like to hide out to feed on the bugs that come for the nectar and sap and the plant provides a great home and buffet for green anole lizards. Thus the unassuming baccharis acts as a very busy little ecological microcosm. It also makes a great windbreak and shrubby intermediate step between grassland and forest. And, to top it all off, it is native to the Gulf and Eastern Seaboard states. Please pardon the long comment and thanks for bringing well-deserved attention to your beautifully named "snow mound bush"!<br /><br />J. B. Sherrick<br />Southeast TexasJ. B. Sherricknoreply@blogger.com