| Floating ferns are common at Palo Verde. Here are two of the three common species: Salvinia minima (the larger green) and Azolla (the smaller red). Another common wetland fern that is fairly peculiar is the large Acrostichum aureum seen in the background of the first photo in this post. |  |
The skipper (Hesperiidae) caterpillar is again quite abundant and has nearly completely defoliated the Thalia geniculata at Palo Verde. There are a few patches with limited herbivory, and it would be interesting to test whether those patches free of the larva were relatively small, or had reduced density or were otherwise missed by the adults when laying eggs. I’ve collected some and hope they pupate so I can identify the adult.
White frenrose – check out the five points of nectar.
Some more photographs of Eichhornia crassipes flowers demonstrating heterostyly.
Marsh St. Johnswort (Triadenum virginicum) and Three-way Sedge (Dulichium arundinaceum).
This wetland plant took me a while to key out, since I had never seen it’s flowers. Interestingly, I keyed it out using some guess-and-check with Google Image, and the next day I found some with flowers! The first two images are from last year, and the rest are from this year. There is a distinct change in leaf morphology once the plant has established, and to tell the two species apart in this genus, you must examine the relative density and size of the hairs covering the stems.
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