Monthly Meetings


The next meeting of the Citrus Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will be at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, June 1st at the Beverly Hills Lions Club in Beverly Hills.

The featured speaker for the evening will be Dr. Brian Akers. He will be discussing fungi from this area of Florida and which ones are edible and which ones are deadly. There will also be a "Plant of the Month" talk. We will conclude our meeting with a plant raffle for over twenty five species of native plants grown in the Citrus County area.

Our meetings are open to anyone who has an interest in the natural environment of Citrus County.

Directions to the meeting:

Beverly Hills Lions Club
72 Civic Circle

From CR 491, go East on Beverly Hills Blvd. until it meets Civic Circle. [map]


For further information:
Call Jim Bierly at 382-3365.

The society is open to anyone who has an interest in native plants or those who just enjoy the great outdoors of Citrus County. Meetings are usually held on the 1st Tuesday of the month. Our meetings are informal and the public is welcome to attend. It is not necessary to be a member. Just come & find out what it's all about!


Some of the educational programs we have had are:

     Native Violets
     The Birds and the Bees: what your mother never told you
     Florida's Gulf Coast: Amazing Treasures and Daunting Threats
     Hammocks of the Withlacoochee State Forest
     How the State of Florida Got Its Name
     Florida CAPS Program (Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey)
     Scrub and Sandhill Restoration
     Bats of Florida
     Exotics
     Wildflowers
     Prescribed Burns
     Plant Propagation
     Butterflies
     Reptiles & Amphibians
     Coastal Eco Systems
     Black Bears
     Wild Orchids of Florida
     Honey Bees
     Rare and Endangered Plants
     Incredible Wild Edibles
     Plants and Wildlife in Ross Prairie State Forest
     The Effects of Prescribed Burning on Herpetofauna in Upland Pine Communities
     A Brief History of the Public Lands of Citrus County
     Comparative Behavior of Insects and other Animals with Plants
     Earthworms: How to Raise Them to Enhance the Soil in Your Growing Areas
     Plant Care for Indoor Plants and the Proper Soils for Potted Plants

Our Plant of the Month talks have described:

2007
     Florida Mountainmint
     Sky Blue Lupine
     Gary's Prickly Pear Cactus
     Dogwood (Cornus florida)
     Butterfly-weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
     Spotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata)

2006:
     Native Rhododendruns
     Wild Pennyroyal (Piloblephis rigida)
     Innocence Plant (Hedyotis procumbens)
     Simpson Stopper
     Winged Elm
     Virginia Willow
     Mimosa strigillosa
     Viburnum dentatum
     Rusty Lyonia
     Carphephorus paniculatus
     Wax Myrtle

2005:
     Native Porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis)
     Possumhaw, Witherod, or Appalachian Tea (Viburnum nudum )
     Yellow Anise (Illicium parviflorum)
     Polypodium fern
     Coreopsis leavenworthii and Coreopsis lancelota
     Bloodberry or Rougeplant (Rivina humilis)
     Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
     Wild Poinsettia (Poinsettia cyathophora)
     Southern ladies' tresses (Spiranthes torta)
     Sweet Acacia (Acacia farnesiana)
     Pineland Gayfeather or Pineland Blazingstar (Liatris garberi)

2004:
     Hollies
     Passion Vine
     Hard coated seeds
     Coontie/Garbaria
     Poly podium fern
     Oakleaf Hydrangea
     Green Eyes
     Conradina brevifolia
     Scrub St John's Wort
     Pawpaw
     Blue Eyed Grass
     Persimmon
     Firebush

2003:
     Dwarf Wax Myrtle
     Dwarf Walter's Viburnum
     Saw Palmetto
     Coontie
     Rusty Lyonia
     Tarflower
     Spicebush
     Silver Croton
     Gopher Apple
     Goldenrod
     Red Cedar

2002:
     Beach sunflower
     Pennyroyal
     Swamp sunflower
     Climbing Aster
     Swamp Sneezeweed
     Sweet Bay Magnolia
     Chickasaw Plum
     Sensitive Plant
     Liatris
     Wild Lime
     Rattlesnake Master

2001:
     Cabbage Palm
     Passion Vine
     Wild Poinsettia
     Sparkleberry
     Beautyberry
     Redbud
     Cherry Laurel

"Unplant" (invasive exotic) talks included:

     Floating bladderwort
     Coral Ardesia
     Skunk Vine
     Cogon Grass
     Chinese Tallow
     Catclaw Mimosa
     Asparagus Fern
     Air Potato
     Nandina
     Water-hyacinth
     Camphor Tree
     Ligustrm Sinense
     Chinaberry