by: Abigail Hrabar

Florida is home to many beautiful aspects of nature. The first thing many think of is its beach, but it has more than just that. It is also home to many beautiful wildflowers. As spring is now in full swing, let us take a look at some of Pensacola’s native flowering species. 

Going on the UWF walking trails with some friends, I went on a search for flowers. It was a muggy day, and as we kept walking through the swampy areas and thick brush and forest of the trails, I began to lose hope. Maybe it just was not warm enough for all the blossoms to be out yet, I thought. After about half an hour of walking, however, we ran across a large clearing filled with bright flowers. You could see them travel on in the distance for miles.

So, we stopped to smell the “roses,” or in this case the many wildflowers native to North Florida. We ran across some blue toadflax first, a purplish-blue long-stalked flower you may have driven past the last month on the side of the road. There were also false jessamine – a yellow vining flower – and southern dewberry – a berry plant with small white flowers. We also ran across some more unusual flowers, like the purple anise which forms a reddish-purple star shape bloom. The most colourful flowers that decorated the field included red sorrel – a red wheat-like flower, field clover – a grouping of fun yellow, pink, and white coloured bulbous flowers, and finally spiderwort – a bright purple three-petaled flower. 

As I commented on the beauty of the red sorrel, a friend of mine who was with me at the time could not help but chuckle. He told me that he and his family used to peel the plant stem of the wildflower and taste the sourness of its stalk. My other friend chipped in saying his family did this too. Both referred to this wildflower as sour grass. Upon further research, I even found an article by the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences talking about how the author of the article’s kid ate it during PE class. 

I found all this intriguing. In an age so deeply defined by the internet, technological advances, and success, these two families were still defined by nature in some small way. For my two friends the coming of the red sorrel was just another indicator of the coming of spring. To them, the sour grass meant little more than a funny weed they chewed on when they were younger, yet to me it was something really beautiful. I even, despite my friends’ teasing, took a few home that day and made a bouquet for my friend.

So, next time you are out driving whether on the highway or in the suburbs, look to the grassy medians and areas around you to find a glimpse of sunshine. Maybe you can even make a bouquet of wildflowers for your friend as well. 

If you are not sure exactly what kind of flower you are looking at, be sure to check on the Florida Wildflower Foundation website for identification or before picking it!