The Florida Native Plant Society's 30th Annual Conference

Nominations Are Open for Palmetto Awards

Cindy Liberton

Any FNPS member can submit a nomination for one of the Society's annual awards. Simply prepare a one-page summary including: (1) the type of award; (2) name of the individual or chapter that you wish to nominate; and (3) an explanation of why your candidate merits this recognition

Green Palmetto Awards – This award typically is for recognition of regional or statewide contributions. The categories are: Science, Education & Outreach, Information, Service and Administration. Any FNPS member is eligible to receive this award except for those currently serving on the Board of Directors.

FNPS Public Service Award – Individuals working in the public sector who contribute significantly to advancing the FNPS mission are eligible. This award is not limited to FNPS members.

FNPS Chapter Achievement Award – Chapters that have excelled in promoting the FNPS mission.

FNPS Mentor Award – This award recognizes individuals in FNPS who have made outstanding contributions to the science and/or practice of native plant preservation, conservation and restoration. The Mentor Award is the highest honor that FNPS can bestow and is not necessarily awarded every year.

After the nomination cycle closes on March 30, the Board of Directors will review all the nominations that have been submitted and make a final decision about award recipients by conducting a vote. In a typical year, FNPS will bestow 3-5 Green Palmetto Awards and one Chapter Achievement Award. The others are not necessarily awarded every year. To see a list of award recipients from previous years, please go to the Awards and Grants page on the FNPS website.

Nominations should be sent to Executive Director Karina Veaudry, executivedirector@fnps.org

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FLEPPC Accepting Proposals for Kathy Craddock Burks Education Grants

The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council is soliciting grant proposals for non-native invasive plant education and outreach projects in Florida. The intent of these grants is to provide funding to organizations or individuals who will educate Floridians about non-native invasive plants and their influences on the environment and economy of Florida. Proposals will be accepted from individuals, public or private nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions. 

Requests for funding should not exceed $1,000.00 and all funds awarded are to be used within one year of receipt. The deadline for proposal submission is 5 PM on February 1, 2010. The FLEPPC Education Committee will review all applications. Winners will be announced in April 2010 at FLEPPC's annual conference, held this year in Crystal River, Florida.

Applicant/organization must present a summary of results at the FLEPPC annual meeting (poster or presentation) or provide a summary article for possible inclusion in Wildland Weeds magazine. The FLEPPC Education Grant Committee reserves the right to review all publications resulting from its funding (prior to printing or distribution) for accuracy.

Application instructions and further information may be found on the FLEPPC website (www.fleppc.org).

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GoodSearch\GoodShop Good for FNP$

Shop for the items you were planning to buy anyway — books, CDs, clothing, computers, camping gear, gardening tools — and give to FNPS while you do it!

You can automatically give to FNPS as you shop for yourself or purchase gifts for loved ones. FNPS is now registered with GoodSearch, which also includes a donation service through its GoodShop program. When you use these services, money goes to the Society. Each time you use the GoodSearch engine (which you do every time you go shopping through this program), a penny or two goes into Society coffers. The GoodShop merchant list is huge and includes Amazon, Target, eBay, PetSmart, Apple, Expedia, Best Buy, Lands End, to name just a few. The merchants donate a variable percentage of each purchase.

Here's how to get started:

Go to www.goodsearch.com and choose your charity. To do this, in the second box from the top, under “Who Do You GoodSearch For?” type Florida Native Plant Society. (The statewide fund is the FNPS listing for Melbourne, FL).

Next, go down to the GoodShop box (look for the halo) and click Shop Now. From there you select the merchant you want to use. When the page for your merchant opens up, it tells you how much of your purchase they will donate, and they may offer coupons and other goodies.They also will remind you that your cause only will receive a donation if you make your purchases by going through this page.

Have fun! And... Thank You!

FNPS Travel Survey Results

Rosalind Rowe

Thank you everyone who made the time, and overcame the challenges, to respond to this survey. There were 15 replies received, and not everyone answered every item.

Budget: 4 @ $1,500; 2 @ $2,500; 2 @ $3,000; 1@ $3,500; 2 @ $4,000.

Time Away: 1 @ 5 days; 1 @ 7 days; 2 @ 10 days; 3 @ 14 days.

Travel Season: Most said "any," 1 for summer only; 1 for winter & spring only.

Politics: Most said they would rely on US State Department Travel Website reports.

Preferences:
     Panama -1
     British Guyana - 2
     Nicaragua -3
     Costa Rica - 4
     Euro Mediterranean -5
     Venezuela - 6
     US Field Trips -7; several US areas were suggested, including the Florida
        Panhandle and Alaska.

One had no preferences, except that the trip must have a good plant component! One stated that shared bathrooms were not acceptable.

Ed. Note:  Fifteen responses is not a great number upon which to base travel plans for FNSP. If this survey has given us any direction, it's that this editor hasn't yet mastered how to run a good survey with this newsletter!  We'll be looking into ways to make it easier for our members to respond. We really do want to know what you want!

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Habitat Steward Training

Habitat steward volunteers are individuals with a keen interest in the environment, and a willingness to volunteer their time and expertise to help others create or restore wildlife habitat. Habitat Stewards need to be able to commit to providing 30 hours of service to the National Wildlife Federation within a year of completing their training.

Examples of some volunteer opportunities include:
• Consulting with neighbors about filling habitat needs in their backyard
• Speaking at civic association meetings or clubs about the importance of wildlife habitat
• Writing articles for local newspapers or magazines
• Distributing habitat information at local festivals
• Helping create Schoolyard Habitats
• Certifying either 3 homes or 1 school, business, or place of worship

Habitat Steward Training includes field trips, expert speakers, and materials. Applicants must attend entire training.

For more information on the National Wildlife Federation, please visit: http://www.nwf.org

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Species Spotlight

Mockernut
Carya alba 
JUGLANDACEAE

E.K. Sommer

Pecans (Carya illinoensis) are the stars for the autumn holiday, but in northern Florida we have the opportunity to also savor C. alba, or mockernut. While the mockernut is not as user friendly as the pecan, native people and settlers made liberal use of it for food and sometimes for medicine.

According to Austin, members of the de Soto expedition first saw hickory nuts in an area southwest of Gainesville in 1539. While ethnobotanical information on the Carya species is not abundant, pecan shells were found at a prehistoric site in the Ozark Mountains, so they have clearly been used as food for a long time.

The shell is tough, and the name "ut" is derived from the Dutch, "moker-noot," which literally means "heavy-hammer nut." You will absolutely need to get out your hammer to crack these nuts. Although, the meat is sweet, it is unfortunately tiny, and even squirrels ignore these nuts in favor of those that are easier to open.

The Creek people of Georgia, according to Bartram, pounded the nuts into pieces, boiled them, passed them through a sieve, and preserved the oily liquid which resembled cream. This, according to Bartram, was called "hiccory milk," and was an ingredient in many of the foods prepared by the Creek, especially hominy and corn cakes.

The tree is known to have a variety of traditional medicinal uses. The Choctaw people used the leaves of C. alba (C. tomentosa is a synonym for this plant) to deter fleas, and the Iroquois mixed the nut meat with bear oil to repel mosquitoes (although I imagine the bear oil alone would repel most
anything!). The Cherokee used the bark for cuts and chewed it for sore mouth.

The sap, which can be tapped in the spring, was used by native people as a sweet drink. The bark of another cousin of the pecan, shagbark hickory (C. ovata), has become the source for a cottage business that sells a syrup based on a 200-year old recipe that many say is a good as maple syrup. An Indiana couple (www.hickoryworks.com) received the recipe from an elderly gentleman who said his great-grandmother made the syrup. Although they are not revealing the secret process, this shouldn't stop anyone from experimenting with our local hickories! Of course it would probably have to be following a cold winter, which seem few and far between these days.

Ed. Note: Always cross-check with several references for the identity of plants before using them. If you are at all unsure, consult with experienced foragers and herbalists before eating or using plants from the wild. Another hickory in north Florida is C. glabra; its' twigs and buds are smooth, where C. alba's are hairy to fuzzy. (Ellie has website at www.myherbalnotebook.com.)  

White Peacock–Anatia jatrophae 

Linda Cooper

Easily seen in most wetland areas is one of our loveliest butterflies, the White Peacock, Anatia jatrophae. It occurs over most of peninsular Florida and in summer and fall will colonize farther north along the coasts. A tropical species it does not tolerate cold conditions nor do its host plants Bacopa monnieri, Smooth Water Hyssop, and Phyla nodiflora, Turkey Tangle Fogfruit. 

This is a very easy butterfly to identify. It is a medium-sized, mostly white with orange markings and several "eyes" on the wings. It also has very small stubby tails. The summer form has a richer orange color than the whiter winter form. It is usually easily found in most roadside ditches and swales and along lake and pond edges and will visit home gardens also.

The caterpillar is dark with small white spots and rows of branched spines. Its head has a pair of long horns with knobby tips. The caterpillars hide during the day close to the ground of the host plant. There are three broods in Florida so White Peacock can be found nearly year-round. 

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Society News

New Seminole County Chapter Schedules Its First Meeting 

Education Committee Provides New Resources

The FNPS Education Committee is building a directory of resources on Florida native plants categorized for the homeowner, teacher, planner, government official, student, industry worker, or other interested person. Check to see what they've compiled, and support their efforts with suggestions for other high-quality resources. They have also compiled a useful list of Florida's gardens that feature natives in a variety of settings. Go to fnps.org, Publications and select "Downloadable Docs" to see these items.

Give a Gift of Memories

Your annual gift to the Society can memorialize someone important in your life. When you give your tax-deductible donation, indicate the person you would like to honor, and any comments. Your memorial will be recognized in upcoming Society publications.

Fly Your Company's Banner

Business owners, please consider upgrading your membership to the business or corporate level ($125). Not only will this increase provide greatly needed funds for the work of the Society, but will advertise your company within the membership ranks.

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Chapter Resources

Chapter Tips & Tricks

Use your signature line for good:
In official Chapter email correspondence, consider including a link to GoodSearch or GoodShop in your signature, as well as a “Join FNPS” link. This serves both as a reminder and a direct line to contribute. Find out how to add GoodSearch to your signature at http://www.goodsearch.com/getinvolved.aspx

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