The Magnolia Grandiflora, or Southern Magnolia, is native to the southeast United States, stretching into the Floridian peninsula.
Its large, showy flowers are the reason for its species name, being Latin for "big flower." The genus Magnolia is named for French botanist Pierre Magnol.
It is rare in that it is a tree with a large, broad leaf that is still evergreen. The slick, waxy surface of the leaves is able to prevent snow from accumulating on the leaves and weigh down the tree until it collapses.
Wild bees harvest nectar and pollen from the tree and spread pollen to start the process of seed creation.
Many of these seeds end up eaten by squirrels, possums, or birds.
Space Coast Photography Studios
- They/Them
- heronfox.pixels.com/
Two Central Florida photographers with an interest in nature, landscape, bird, flower, space, technology, and architecture photography.
After NASA was given all of Merritt Island for its operations, it realized it would only need about 10% or so for most operations, and so handed off most of the northern part of the island to the Department of the Interior to manage as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Normally open to the public, MINWR is a thriving environment with thousands of species, including some endangered, find a unique habitat in the brackish swamps. Public access is via road, and there are driving and hiking trails throughout the Refuge. MINWR is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail complex. The Snowy Egret is frequently seen at MINWR, and this is a picture of a flying egret coming in for a water landing in one of the many partly-salty ponds in the swamp.
And a message also from Heron and Fox: we close with good night, good luck, a merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth, especially those who are without light and heat on this Christmas Eve because of state terrorism on a mass scale. Merry Christmas and Glory to Ukraine.
Another picture of a Florida Poinsettia or Paintedleaf, growing in the scrub of the Cape Canaveral National Seashore.
The plant is native to Florida, but does not have the showy leaves of the more well-known Mexican Poinsettia, which is often used a Christmas decoration in the United States.
