In 1991, the Coreopsis was adopted as Florida's official state wildflower. The Florida Statutes, Title 4, Chapter 15, Section 15.0345 reads: The Coreopsis is hereby designated and declared the official Florida state wildflower, as species of this genus are found throughout the state and are used extensively in roadside plantings and highway beautification.
There are 11 native species of Coreopsis found in Florida; two species, C. leavenworthii and C. floridana, are native to this area. The USDA Plant Database shows C. leavenworthii is found both in Florida and Alabama and C. floridana is endemic to Florida.
According to the Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida, both plants have ray flowers yellow or orange; leaves flat and disk flowers apically 4-lobed, with 4 anthers (see photo). The difference comes with the leaves, as shown in the herbarium photos from the USF Herbarium (cropped for space).
C. leavenworthii disk flowers: note lobes and anthers.
Photo by Drew Shell
C. leavenworthii (left): Leaves pinnately or bipinnately compound; C. floridana (right): Leaves simple, entire or bearing only a few basal auricles
David Griffin, a member of the Mangrove Chapter who, as a volunteer, collects herbarium specimens for Oscar Scherer State Park, came across C. floridana at the park. He describes them as having flowers at least twice the size of C. leavenworthii with most of the leaves found in a basal rosette with only a few growing along the stem, which you can see clearly in the herbarium specimen.
We already have C. leavenworthiiin the garden. Wouldn't it be great if we had C. floridana? David Griffin says it has a very showy flower that would make a wonderful addition to a native plant garden. It has similar soil and moisture requirements as C. leavenworthii. If anyone knows of a seed source that we can collect from LEGALLY, let us know!
References:
Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. document FPS142. Original publication date October 1999. Revised November 2003. Reviewed May 2007. edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fp142.
Florida Official State Wildflower, www.netstate.com/states/symb/wildflowers/fl_coreopsis.htm
Griffin, David. Telephone interview. 19 February 2011.
Natives for Your Neighborhood, Leavenworth's Tickseed www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/PD_PFriendly.asp?tx=Coreleav
Natives for Your Neighborhood, Florida Tickseed
www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/PD_PFriendly.asp?tx=Coreflor
Online Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, Coreopsis leavenworthii www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=1180
Online Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, Coreopsis floridana www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=1137
USDA Plant Database Plants Profile Coreopsis leavenworthii
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Coreopsis+leavenworthii&mode=sciname
USDA Plant Database Plants Profile Coreopsis floridana
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Coreopsis+floridana&mode=sciname
Wunderlin, RP and BF Hansen, Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida, 2nd Ed. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003.
All photos are from Online Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants.