Wild Florida Photo - Nemastylis floridana

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Nemastylis floridana

CELESTIAL LILY

FALLFLOWERING IXIA

FALLFLOWERING PLEATLEAF

Florida native

Endemic to Florida

Endangered Florida species

 

This Florida endemic species is found in wet flatwoods, prairies, marshes and the edges of cabbage palm hammocks of east-central Florida, mostly in the St. Johns River watershed. Ranging from Putnam and Flagler Counties in the north, extending south to Broward County and west into Pasco County. This endangered species responds well to periodic burning of the habitat.
The violet-blue six tepaled flower only opens for an hour or two in the afternoon during the fall, hence one of the common names is fall-flowering ixia. The elliptic sepals and petals are nearly equal in length, the flowers are 4 cm or more across. There are three yellow anthers with the style divided into six narrow pointed branches. Usualy having a single stem with small well-spaced leaves, some robust plants may be branched. The few grass-like basal leaves can be over 60 cm long.
Similar in appearance to Bartram's ixia, which has flowers with wider more rounded tepals that bloom only in the morning during late spring or early summer in northeast Florida. Also similar to the more widespread blue-eyed grasses that bloom throughout the day during the spring and summer.

 
Nemastylis floridana is a member of the Iridaceae - Iris family.
 

Florida Wildflowers in Their Natural Communities

  Walter Kingsley Taylor
Walter Taylor's guide will help readers recognize and identify wildflowers by where they're most likely to be found growing - their natural habitat.

This book is the first of its kind for Florida. Taylor provides detailed descriptions and color photos of each community - pine flatwoods, sandhills, upland pine forest, scrub, temperate hardwood forest, coastal uplands, subtropical pine forest, tropical hardwood hammock, and ruderal sites - and of the wildflower species associated with each.
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Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species

USDA Plant Profile for this species

Date record last modified:
Nov 16, 2005