A floristic inventory and reassessment of the Flora of Sanibel Island (Lee Co.), Florida, U.S.A.

Authors

  • George J. Wilder Naples Botanical Garden
  • Jean M. McCollom Natural Ecosystems
  • Brenda Thomas Florida Gulf Coast University, Department of Integrated Studies
  • Karen Relish Naples Botanical Garden

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v15.i1.1061

Abstract

Sanibel Island (Lee Co., Florida) manifests eight main categories and 12 subcategories of habitats, and individual plant taxa occupy habitat(s) from one or more of those categories. Documented, presently as growing wild/apparently wild on Sanibel Island are individuals of 119 families, 397 genera, 611 species (including two hybrids), and 621 infrageneric taxa of vascular plants. Of the 621 infrageneric taxa, 420 (67.6%) are native and 13 (2.1 %) are endemic to Florida. We interpret the Island’s flora in terms of its history of severe natural and artificial disturbances.

References

Allen, C.M. D.W. Hall. 2003. Paspalum L. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds., Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 25. Oxford University Press, New York, U.S.A.
Anholt, B. 2004. Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation: a natural course. Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Sanibel, Florida, U.S.A.
Attaway, John A. 1999. Hurricanes and Florida agriculture. Florida Science Source, Inc., Lake Alfred, Florida, U.S.A.
Austin, D.F. 2004. Florida ethnobotany. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A.
Bailey, F. 2013. My 92 years on Sanibel. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Scotts Valley, California, U.S.A.
Barnes, Jay. 2007. Florida’s hurricane history. 2nd ed. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Bradley, K.A. 2002. Vegetation analysis of preserves owned by the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. Unpublished report submitted to the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Sanibel Island, Florida, U.S.A.
Chafin, L.G. 2000. Field guide to the rare plants of Florida. Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.
City of Sanibel. 2021a. Other invasive exotic vegetation, City-listed invasive exotic vegetation. https://www.mysanibel.com/Departments/Natural-Resources/Vegetation-Information
City of Sanibel. 2021b. Tropical Storm / Hurricane including Hurricane (Evacuation) Reentry Passes, Sanibel Tropical Storm and Hurricane History. https://www.mysanibel.com/Departments/Police-including-Emergency-Management/Emergency-Management/Tropical-Storm-Hurricane-including-Hurricane-Evacuation-Reentry-Passes/Hurricane-Reentry-Pass-Program
Clark, J. 1976. The Sanibel report. Formulation of a comprehensive plan based on natural systems. The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Cooley, G.R. 1955. The vegetation of Sanibel Island Lee County, Florida. Rhodora 57(682): 1–31.
Correll, D.S. & M.C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. Texas Research Foundation, Renner, Texas, U.S.A.
DDNRC (J.N. Ding Darling Refuge Complex & U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 2010. J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan. U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region. https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/DownloadFile/8237
Dormer, E.M. 1987. The sea shell islands: a history of Sanibel and Captiva. Revised ed. Rose Printing Co., Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.
FDACS (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services). 2020. Endangered, threatened and commercially exploited plants of Florida. https://www.fdacs.gov/Divisions-Offices/Plant-Industry/Bureaus-and-Services/Entomology-Nematology-Plant-Pathology/Botany/Florida-s-Endangered-Plants. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.
FDACS (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services). 2021. Florida Champion Trees Register. https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Our-Forests/Florida-Champion-Trees. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.
Fernald, M.L. 1950. Gray’s manual of botany, 8th (centennial) ed. American Book Co., New York, U.S.A.
FLEPPC (Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council). 2019. Florida EPPC’s 2019 list of invasive plant species. www.fleppc.org/list/list.htm. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, University of Georgia, Tifton, Georgia, U.S.A.
Franck, A.R. 2017. Notes on trifoliolate species of Galactia (Fabaceae) in Florida. Phytologia. 99(2):139–185.
Franck, A.R., G.D. Gann, J. Sadle, & A. Farid. 2021. Sharpening plant taxonomy in South Florida: Baccharis and Melanthera (Asteraceae), Borreria and Chiococca (Rubiaceae), and Lantana (Verbenaceae). Phytologia. Submitted.
Gann, G.D., K.A. Bradley, & S.W. Woodmansee. 2002. Rare plants of South Florida: Their history, conservation, and restoration. The Institute for Regional Conservation, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
Gleason, H.A. & A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, U.S.A.
Hall, D.W. 2019. Grasses of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. U.S.A.
Henderson, W.G. Jr. 1984. Soil survey of Lee County, Florida. U.S. Dept. Agriculture Soil Conservation Service.
Henrickson, J. 2010. Comments on a revision of Celtis subgenus Mertensia (Celtidaceae) and the recognition of Celtis pallida. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 4(1):287–293.
Herwitz, S.R. & R.P. Wunderlin. 1990. Vascular plant species diversity on two barrier islands in southwest Florida. J. Coastal Res. 6(2):311–322.
IRC (Institute for Regional Conservation). 2021. Galactia parvifolia A. Rich. In: Floristic inventory of the Florida Keys database online. https://www.regionalconservation.org/ircs/database/plants/PlantPageFK.asp?TXCODE=Galaparv. Delray Beach, Florida, U.S.A.
Lebuff, C., & C. Lechowicz. 2013. Amphibians & reptiles of Sanibel & Captiva Islands, Florida. Amber Publishing, Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.A.
Lechowicz, C. 2020. When natives become invasive: battle of the buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus). CISMA Invasive Species Symposium (unpublished presentation). Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.A.
Lodge, T.E. 2010. The Everglades handbook: understanding the ecosystem. 3rd ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A.
Long, R.W. & O. Lakela. 1976. A flora of tropical Florida: a manual of the seed plants and ferns of southern peninsular Florida. Banyan Books, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
Peterson, P.M. 2003. Eragrostis Wolf. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 25. Oxford University Press, New York, U.S.A.
Repko, M. 2010. A brief history of Sanibel Island. ECity Publishing, Everglades City, Florida, U.S.A.
Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce. 2019. The islands of Sanibel–Captiva: naturally, you’ll love it here. Sanibel Chamber of Commerce, Sanibel, Florida, U.S.A.
Semple, J.C. & R.E. Cook. 2006. Solidago Linnaeus. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 20. Oxford University Press, New York, U.S.A.
SERNEC (Southeastern Regional Network of Expertise and Collections). 2020. https://sernecportal.org/portal/index.php. Southeastern regional network of expertise and collections, Boone, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Stalter, R. & E.E. Lamont. 2021. Vascular flora of J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island, Florida, U.S.A. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas, In review.
Tebeau, C.W. 1966. Florida’s last frontier. The history of Collier County. University of Miami Press, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
Tebeau, C.W. 1968. Man in the Everglades. 2000 years of human history in the Everglades National Park. 2nd revised ed. University of Miami Press, Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.A.
The Florida State University Biology Department. 2021. The Florida State University Biology Department Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium. https://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu/database.php/ . Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.
University of Florida Herbarium Collections Catalog. 2021. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/herbarium/cat/ . Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.
USDA (USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service). 2020. The PLANTS Database: Wetland Indicator Status Search. http://plants.usda.gov. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.
Veri, R.R. & L. Warner. 1975. Interior wetlands water quality management. The Conservation Foundation, Inc., Washington D.C., U.S.A.
Virtual Herbarium. 2021. Virtual Herbarium. http://www.virtualherbarium.org/. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.A.
Wilder, G.J. & M.R. Mccombs. 2006. New and significant records of vascular plants for Florida and for Collier County and Lee County, Florida. Sida 22:787–799.
Wilder, G.J. & B.J. Roche. 2009. A floristic inventory of Marco Island (Collier County), Florida. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 3(2):873–899.
Wilder, G.J., S.V. Sprunt, J.A. Duqesnel, & S.F. Kolterman. 2014. A floristic inventory of Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park and immediately adjacent lands (Monroe County), Florida, U.S.A. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 8(1):227–251.
Wilder, G.J. & M.J. Barry. 2012. A floristic inventory of Dismal Key and Fakahatchee Island—two shell mounds situated within the Ten Thousand Islands region in the Gulf of Mexico (Collier County, Florida). J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 6(1):259–272.
Wilder, G.J. & B.L. Thomas. 2016. A floristic inventory of Collier-Seminole State Park and immediately adjacent lands (Collier County), Florida, U.S.A. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 10(1):201–244.
WILDER, G.J. & J.M. Mccollom. 2018. A floristic inventory of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (Collier County and Lee County), Florida, U.S.A. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 12(1):265–315.
WILDER, G.J., J.M. Mccollom, & N.J. Bissett. 2019: A floristic inventory of the Holmes Avenue Tract (Highlands Co.), Florida. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas. 13(2):499–543
Wipff, J.K. 2003. Digitaria Haller. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 25. Oxford University Press, New York, U.S.A.
Wunderlin, R.P., & B.F. Hansen. 1985. Native and naturalized vascular plants of Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Sanibel, Florida, U.S.A.
Wunderlin, R.P. & B.F. Hansen. 2011. Guide to the vascular plants of Florida, 3rd ed. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.
Wunderlin, R.P. & B.F. Hansen. 2016. Flora of Florida. Vol. III. Dicotyledons, Vitaceae through Urticaceae. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.
Wunderlin, R.P., D. Richardson, & B.F. Hansen. 1980. The vascular flora of the J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Lee County, Florida. Unpublished report submitted to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Sanibel, Florida.
Wunderlin, R.P., B.F. Hansen, & A.R. Franck. 2018. Flora of Florida. Vol. V. Dicotyledons, Gisekiaceae through Boraginaceae. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.
Wunderlin, R.P., B.F. Hansen, & A.R. Franck. 2019. Flora of Florida. Vol. VI. Dicotyledons, Convolvulaceae through Paulowniaceae. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.
Wunderlin, R.P., B.F. Hansen, A.R. Franck, & F.B. Essig. 2020. Atlas of Florida plants. http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/. Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, U.S.A.

Downloads

Published

2021-07-23

How to Cite

Wilder, G. J. ., McCollom, J. M. ., Thomas, B. ., & Relish, K. . (2021). A floristic inventory and reassessment of the Flora of Sanibel Island (Lee Co.), Florida, U.S.A. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 15(1), 201–260. https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v15.i1.1061

Most read articles by the same author(s)