This week s plants, then, are more typical of the southeastern United States, so while last week I could link to a wonderful online herbal by a British author for each of the plants, this week, I ll be linking to various sites for additional information about these new plants. Although it is the state tree of Florida, the sabal or cabbage palm is common throughout the Southeast. It is a great plant for landscaping, since in its natural range, it requires almost no attention, except for some grooming, discarding its dead fronds. It is also a food source, providing the swamp cabbage of some cracker cooking or hearts of palm for the gourmet. Surely no one in Worth County or in much of the Southeast needs to be shown a picture of Spanish moss, but if you do, click here for a moonlit view of the plant that captures something of its role as background for a lot of Southern stereotypes.
Spanish moss is neither Spanish nor moss.
A little larger than Spanish moss, it shows the same colors and the scales with which tillandsias absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Throughout the southeastern United States, we have many varieties of ferns , one of the most ancient groups of plants. So far, I have found five kinds of ferns in my yard. And, then, here is a picture of one of my royal ferns, and Yes, that s it. The truth is, we go through most of our lives seeing what we choose to see.