Biodiversity of Eckerd College

Centaurea cyanus, commonly known as cornflower or bachelor's button, is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe. In the past it often grew as a weed in cornfields (in the broad sense of "corn", referring to grains, such as wheat, barley, rye, or oats), hence its name. It is now endangered in its native habitat by agricultural intensification, particularly over-use of herbicides, destroying its habitat. It is also, however, through introduct less ↑

Psilotum nudum, known as the whisk fern, is a fernlike plant. Like the other species in the order Psilotales, it lacks roots. It is found in tropical Africa, Central America, tropical and subtropical North America, South America, tropical Asia, Australia, Hawaii, southern Japan, Lord Howe Island, New Zealand, with a few isolated populations in SW Europe ("Los Alcornocales", Spain, Cádiz province). less ↑

Nephrolepis exaltata, known as the sword fern or Boston fern, is a species of fern in the family Lomariopsidaceae (sometimes treated in the families Davalliaceae or Oleandraceae, or in its own family, Nephrolepidaceae) native to tropical regions throughout the world. An evergreen perennial herbaceous plant, it can reach as high as 40–90 centimetres (16–35 in), and in extreme cases up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in). It is also known as the Boston swordfern, wild less ↑

Phlebodium aureum (golden polypody, golden serpent fern, cabbage palm fern, gold-foot fern, hare-foot fern; syn. Polypodium aureum, Polypodium leucotomos) is an epiphytic fern native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. It is confined to the eastern side of the continents, extending north into the United States to Florida and the extreme southeast of Georgia, and south through the Caribbean (the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, a less ↑

Juniperus virginiana — its common names include red cedar, eastern redcedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, pencil cedar, and aromatic cedar — is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and east of the Great Plains. Further west it is replaced by the related Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain juniper) and to the southwest by Juniperus ashei ( less ↑

Taxodium ascendens, also known as pond cypress, is a deciduous conifer of the genus Taxodium, native to North America. Many botanists treat it as a variety of bald cypress, Taxodium distichum (as T. distichum var. imbricarium) rather than as a distinct species, but it differs in ecology, occurring mainly in still blackwater rivers, ponds and swamps without silt-rich flood deposits. It predominates in cypress dome habitats. less ↑

Zamia furfuracea is a cycad native to southeastern Veracruz state in eastern Mexico. Although not a palm tree (Arecaceae), its growth habit is superficially similar to a palm; therefore it is commonly known as cardboard palm or cardboard cycad. Other names include cardboard plant, cardboard sago, Jamaican sago, and Mexican cycad (from Mexican Spanish Cícada Mexicana). The plant's binomial name comes from the Latin zamia, for "p less ↑

Senna obtusifolia (Chinese senna, American sicklepod or sicklepod) is a legume in the genus Senna, sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Diallobus. It grows wild in North, Central, and South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and is considered a particularly serious weed in many places. It has a long-standing history of confusion with Senna tora and that taxon in many sources actually refers to the present species. less ↑

Guilandina bonduc, commonly known as grey nicker, nicker bean, or knicker nut, is a species of flowering plant in the senna tribe, Caesalpinieae, that has a pantropical distribution. It is a liana that reaches a length of 6 m (20 ft) and scrambles over other vegetation. Stems are covered in curved spines. Its 2 cm (0.79 in) grey seeds, known as nickernuts, are buoyant and durable enough to be dispersed by ocean currents. less ↑

Mimosa strigillosa, also known as sunshine mimosa and powderpuff, is a perennial ground cover in the Mimosaceae family that is native to nearly all US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and grows north into Georgia and Arkansas as well. The name powderpuff refers to the small spherical flowers that rise above the plant's creeping vines. Like related species in the Mimosa genus sunshine mimosa has sensitive leaves that can fold in a matter of seconds... less ↑

Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a plant of dry grassland belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus Medicago, or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers (Trifolium) and sweet clover (Melilotus). Like the true clovers, black medick has three leaflets and a small, yellow flower closely resembling those of lesser trefoil. Black medick belongs to the same genus as alf less ↑

Abrus precatorius, known commonly as jequirity, Crab's eye, or crab's eye creeper, cock's eyes, rosary pea, paternoster pea, love pea, precatory pea or bean, prayer bead, John Crow Bead, coral bead, red-bead vine, country licorice, Indian licorice, wild licorice, Jamaica wild licorice, Akar Saga, coondrimany, gidee gidee, Jumbie bead ratti/rettee/retty, or weather plant, is a slender, perennial climber that twines around trees, shrubs, and hedges. It is a legume with long, pinnate-l less ↑

Sophora tomentosa, also known as necklacepod, yellow necklacepod, and occasionally as silver bush, is a pantropical shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae. It commonly ranges in height from 4 to 10 feet and often occurs in coastal conditions and near wetlands. The common name Necklacepod is derived from the characteristic string of seed pods that develop after its yellow flowers germinate into seeds. less ↑

Ficus aurea, commonly known as the Florida strangler fig (or simply strangler fig), golden fig, or higuerón, is a tree in the family Moraceae that is native to the U.S. state of Florida, the northern and western Caribbean, southern Mexico and Central America south to Panama. The specific epithet aurea was applied by English botanist Thomas Nuttall who described the species in 1846. less ↑

Parietaria floridana, common name Florida pellitory, is a plant species native to the southeastern United States, the West Indies, and much of Latin America. In the US, the heart of its range extends from Florida, to Georgia and North and South Carolina, with isolated populations reported in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Delaware. Some populations in California have in the past been referred to as P. floridana but are now regarded as a sepa less ↑

Pilea microphylla also known as rockweed, artillery plant, gunpowder plant or (in Latin America) brilhantina is an annual plant native to Florida, Mexico, the West Indies, and tropical Central and Southern America. In the southern part of México, specifically Campeche and Merida, the local name is Frescura. The plant belongs to the family Urticaceae. It has light green, almost succulent, stems and tiny 1/8" leaves which contribute to its oth less ↑

Phlox drummondii (commonly annual phlox or Drummond's phlox) is a flowering plant in the genus Phlox of the family Polemoniaceae. Native to Texas, it is also widely distributed in the southeastern United States, especially along public highways. P. drummondii is often used as an ornamental plant. The flowers have a wide range of colours "from white and cream through pinks, lilacs, roses, purples and reds, to almost black". less ↑

Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar periwinkle, rose periwinkle, or rosy periwinkle, is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae. It is native and endemic to Madagascar, but grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant, a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, used to treat cancer. Other English names include Vinca, Cape periwinkle, rose periwinkle, rosy periwinkle, and "old-maid". It was formerly less ↑

Hamelia patens is a large perennial shrub or small tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is native to the American subtropics and tropics. Its range extends from Florida in the southern United States to as far south as Argentina. Common names include firebush, hummingbird bush, scarlet bush, and redhead. In Belize, this plant's Mayan name is Ix Canaan and is also known as "Guardian of the Forest". less ↑

Eupatorium capillifolium (dogfennel) is a North American perennial herbaceous plant in the family sunflower family, native to the eastern and south-central United States. It is generally between 50 cm and 2 meters tall with several stems that fork from a substantial base. The stems and base are covered in leaves so dissected that they resemble branching green threads coming out of the stem in fractal patterns. When crushed, the leaves and flowers smell rather unpleasant. less ↑

Gamochaeta pensylvanica, called Pennsylvania cudweed or Pennsylvania everlasting, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is native to South America and introduced into Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and North America. The pensylvanica epithet is a misnomer, as the plant is not native to Pennsylvania and only marginally naturalized there. less ↑

Bidens alba, which belongs to the family Asteraceae, is most commonly known as shepherd's needles, beggarticks, Spanish needles or butterfly needles. Bidens means two- toothed, describing the two projections found at the top of the seeds, and alba refers to the white ray florets. This plant is found in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Asia, South America, and Africa, situated in gardens, road sides, farm fields and disturbed sites. B. alba is a less ↑

Sphagneticola trilobata, commonly known as the Bay Biscayne creeping-oxeye, Singapore daisy, creeping-oxeye, trailing daisy, and wedelia, is a plant in the Heliantheae tribe of the Asteraceae (sunflower) family. It is native to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, but now grows throughout the Neotropics. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental groundcover. less ↑

Helianthus debilis is a species of sunflower known by the common names cucumberleaf sunflower, beach sunflower, weak sunflower, and East Coast dune sunflower. It is native to the United States, where it can be found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. It is known elsewhere as an introduced species, such as South Africa, Australia, Taiwan, Slovakia, and Cuba. less ↑

Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel, Indian blanket, Indian blanketflower, or sundance), is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is native to northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas) and the southern and central United States from Arizona east to Florida and the Carolinas and north as far as Nebraska. It is also naturalized in scattered locations in other parts of less ↑

Schinus terebinthifolia is a species of flowering plant in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to subtropical and tropical South America (southeastern Brazil, northern Argentina, and Paraguay). It is found in these states of Brazil: Alagoas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, and Sergipe. Common names include Brazilian peppertree, aroeir less ↑

Zanthoxylum fagara or wild lime, is a species of flowering plant that, despite its name, is not actually in the citrus genus with real limes and other fruit, but is a close cousin in the larger citrus family, Rutaceae. It is native to southern Florida and Texas in the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Paraguay. Common names include lime prickly-ash, wild lime, colima, uña de gato, and... less ↑

Cupaniopsis anacardioides, with common names tuckeroo, carrotwood, beach tamarind and green-leaved tamarind, is a species of flowering tree in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, that is native to eastern and northern Australia. The usual habitat is littoral rainforest on sand or near estuaries. The range of natural distribution is from Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales (34.8° S) to Queensland, northern Australia and New Guinea. less ↑

Oenothera laciniata is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name cutleaf evening primrose. It is native to the eastern United States but it can be found in many other places as an introduced species and sometimes a noxious weed. It is reported from Hawaii, Australia, Britain, France, Korea, Japan, and other areas. This is an annual or short-lived perennial herb producing a spreading stem from a hairy rosette... less ↑

Syzygium cumini, commonly known as jambolan, Java plum or black plum, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae. It is native to the Indian Subcontinent, adjoining regions of Southeast Asia, China and Queensland. The name of the fruit is sometimes mistranslated as blackberry, which is a different fruit in an unrelated family. Syzygium cumini has been spread overseas from India by Indian emigrants and at present is common in for less ↑

Laguncularia racemosa, the white mangrove, is a species of flowering plant in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. It is native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic coast of the Americas from Bermuda, Florida, the Bahamas, Mexico, the Caribbean and south to Brazil; and on the Pacific coast of the Americas from Mexico to northwestern Peru, including the Galápagos Islands. less ↑

Forestiera segregata is a species of flowering plant in the olive family known by the common names Florida privet, Florida swampprivet, and southern privet. It is native to the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, including Puerto Rico and the Cayman Islands, the Lesser Antilles, including Anguilla, and Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina in the United States. less ↑

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis Is a species of plant in the Verbenaceae family, native throughout the Caribbean. It has many common names including blue porterweed, blue snake weed, bastard vervain, Brazilian tea, Jamaica vervain, and light-blue snakeweed. It is unclear whether S. indica is a separate species. It is usually found along country roadsides and it grows also well as a ruderal plant on disturbed terrain. It is an invasive spec less ↑

The black mangrove (Avicennia germinans), is a shrub in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. It grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and on the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa, where it thrives on the sandy and muddy shores that seawater reaches. It is common throughout coastal areas of Texas and Florida, and ranges as far north as southern Louisiana and coastal Georgia in the United States. less ↑

Scoparia dulcis is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family. Common names include licorice weed, goatweed, scoparia-weed and sweet-broom in English, tapeiçava, tapixaba, and vassourinha in Portuguese, escobillo in Spanish, and tipychä kuratu in Guarani. It is native to the Neotropics but it can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical world. less ↑

Bacopa monnieri (waterhyssop, brahmi, thyme-leafed gratiola, water hyssop, herb of grace, Indian pennywort) is a perennial, creeping herb native to the wetlands of southern and Eastern India, Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia, and North and South America. Bacopa is a medicinal herb used in Ayurveda, where it is also known as "Brahmi", after Brahmā, the creator God of the Hindu pantheon. less ↑

Cyclospermum leptophyllum (also, Ciclospermum l.) is a species of plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common names marsh parsley, slender celery and fir-leaved celery. This is a plant found worldwide at warm temperate to tropical latitudes and is considered a noxious weed in many areas. It is a taprooted branching herb reaching just over half a meter in height at maximum. It has threadlike green leaves a few centimeters long and small umbels of... less ↑

Heptapleurum actinophyllum (formerly Schefflera actinophylla) is a tree in the family Araliaceae. It is native to tropical rainforests and gallery forests in northern and north-eastern Queensland coasts and the Northern Territory of Australia, as well as New Guinea and Java. Common names include Australia umbrella tree, Queensland umbrella tree, octopus tree and amate. less ↑

Hydrocotyle umbellata, is an aquatic plant that thrives in wet, sandy habitat. Its English common name is manyflower marshpennywort or dollarweed. It is native to North America and parts of South America. It can also be found growing as an introduced species and sometimes a noxious weed on other continents. It is an edible weed that can be used in salads or as a pot herb. less ↑

Hibiscus tiliaceus is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, that is native to the Old World tropics. Common names include sea hibiscus, beach hibiscus, coastal (or coast) hibiscus, coastal (or coast) cottonwood, green cottonwood, native hibiscus, native rosella, cottonwood hibiscus, kurrajong, sea rosemallow, balibago (Tagalog),malabago less ↑

Magnolia grandiflora, commonly known as the southern magnolia or bull bay, is a tree of the family Magnoliaceae native to the southeastern United States, from southeastern North Carolina to central Florida, and west to East Texas. Reaching 27.5 m (90 ft) in height, it is a large, striking evergreen tree, with large dark green leaves up to 20 cm (7 3⁄4 in) long and 12 cm (4 3⁄4 in) wide, and large, white, fragrant flowers up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. less ↑

Ricinus communis, the castor bean or castor-oil-plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied using modern genetic tools. It reproduces with a mixed pollination system which favors selfing by geitonogamy but at the same time can be an out-crosse less ↑

Chrysobalanus icaco, the cocoplum, paradise plum, abajeru or icaco, is found near sea beaches and inland throughout tropical Africa, tropical Americas and the Caribbean, and in southern Florida and the Bahamas. It is also found as an exotic species on other tropical islands, where it has become a problematic invasive. Although taxonomists disagree on whether Chrysobalanus icaco has multiple subspecies or varieties, it is recognized as having two ec less ↑

Borage (/ˈbʌrɪdʒ/, Borago officinalis), also known as a starflower, is an annual herb in the flowering plant family Boraginaceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and has naturalized in many other locales. It grows satisfactorily in gardens in the UK climate, remaining in the garden from year to year by self-seeding. The leaves are edible and the plant is grown in gardens for that purpose in some parts of Europe. The plant is also commercially... less ↑

Oxalis corniculata, the creeping woodsorrel, also called procumbent yellow sorrel or sleeping beauty, resembles the common yellow woodsorrel, Oxalis stricta. It is a somewhat delicate-appearing, low-growing, herbaceous plant in the family Oxalidaceae. It has a narrow, creeping stem that readily roots at the nodes. The trifoliate leaves are subdivided into three rounded leaflets and resemble a clover in shape. Some varieties have green leaves, while others less ↑

Melothria pendula, also known as the creeping cucumber or the Guadeloupe cucumber, is a plant in the Cucurbiteae tribe. The plant is especially prominent in southeast regions of the United States. While a native plant, its fast-spreading nature makes it potentially weedy. The plant resembles the cultivated cucumber, possessing miniature yellow flowers, similar leaf shape, same leaf patterns, as well as similar growth patterns. The unripe berries strongly resemble minus less ↑

Momordica charantia, known as bitter melon, bitter gourd, bitter squash, or balsam-pear, is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit. Its many varieties differ substantially in the shape and bitterness of the fruit. It is sometimes known by names loaned from Asian languages. less ↑

Cyperus odoratus is a species of sedge known by the common names fragrant flatsedge and rusty flatsedge. This plant can be found in much of the tropical and warm temperate world, including South, Central, and North America, Southeast Asia, some Pacific Islands, Australia, New Guinea, Madagascar, and central Africa. It is a plant of wet, muddy areas, including disturbed and altered sites. This species is quite variable and may in fact be more than one species... less ↑

Cyperus polystachyos, also known as Pycreus polystachyos and commonly known as bunchy sedge, many-spiked sedge, or Texas sedge, is a herbaceous species in the family Cyperaceae, widespread in tropical and subtropical areas around the world, sometimes extending its range into temperate regions. In the United States, it has been reported from a region from Texas to Maine. less ↑

Cenchrus spinifex, known commonly as the common sandbur or coastal sandbur, is a perennial grass that grows from 5 to 30 inches (13 to 76 cm) high in sandy or gravelly terrain. It is found throughout the southern United States southward into Mexico and the Caribbean, and also grows in the Philippines and South Africa. It is a noxious weed in Europe where it was introduced. less ↑