The past two days have been mostly rainy and overcast as a cold front pushes through central Florida. That has meant not much outside time this weekend, so I was in the mood for something bright and colorful today when I sat down to work. It seemed like these beautiful coastalplain palafox flowers (Palafoxia integrifolia) we’re just the ticket. I actually encountered them last fall when I made my first trip to the Bailey Trails section of Gothe State Forest. It was one of a number of beautiful flowers that along with a host of interesting pollinators kept me from ever actually leaving the parking area.

Palafoxes are members of the aster family (Asteraceae), so it’s not surprising that they tend to grow in bunches at the end of long stems. There are two palafoxes that are native almost exclusively to Florida. The Feay’s palafox (Palafoxia feayi) is found in much of the southern and central Florida peninsula, but has not been documented in our county. We are at the very northern end of its range. It looks very similar to the coastalplain palafox, but tends to have white flowers and lacks the small petals that are seen at the base of the coastalplain palafox flowers. Coastalplain palafox is found throughout Florida extending into parts of southern Georgia. Both species live in the sandhills habitat and prefer sandy soil with an acidic to neutral pH.

Palafoxes are fall bloomers that attract quite a few pollinators. They are well known for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds, but they also attract wasps, bees, scarab beetles, and moths. They are an important source of fall nutrition for a number of these species including the delta scarab beetle. Like most of our native plant life, the palafoxes died back to the roots after the first frost hit, but they will be coming up again very soon. They start off as just a clump of leaves close to the ground, but quickly begin to develop the long, branching stems that they are known for. By late August, when they begin to bloom the stems can reach between three and five feet in height. Most of the ones that I observed at the Bailey Trails were closer to three feet tall, but I have seen them taller further south. Now that spring seems to be starting, I look forward to trying to spot some of the young palafoxes and monitor them as they grow.