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Mangroves

November 9th, 2019

Mangroves


Mangroves are a group of plants with a shared common name that has more to do with where and how they grow than with their family or genus relationships. Mangroves are shrubs or trees that are halophiles, meaning that they can grow in salt water. To do this they have particular characteristics that help them deal with their saline environment.



The four native mangroves that occur in Florida are listed here in the order of their preferred habitat, from wettest(lowest) to driest(highest).



Rhizophora mangle - red mangrove - family Rhizophoraceae - order Malpighiales (previously placed in Rhizophorales and earlier in Myrtales)

 red mangrove

Avicennia germinans - black mangrove - family Acanthaceae - order Lamiales (earlier classified in the family Verbenaceae and by the Engler system in the order Tubiflorae)

 black mangrove

Laguncularia racemosa - white mangrove - family Combretaceae - order Myrtales

 white mangrove

Conocarpus erectus - buttonwood, or button mangrove - family Combretaceae - order Myrtales

 buttonwood



The most cold tolerant of these four mangroves is the black while the white and black mangroves tolerate the highest salinity. Buttonwood is probably both the least cold and salt tolerant of the four. In Florida mangroves are mostly limited to the coastal areas of the peninsula although red and black mangroves can be found in a few panhandle counties. Red mangroves also occur in the Carolinas while black mangroves range along the gulf coast of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Both white and button mangroves can also be found in Texas. Mangroves appear along tropical and sub-tropical coasts around the world. There are two non-native mangroves that have escaped and are invasive in Miami-Dade county, Lumnitzera racemosa (common name kripa) and Bruguiera gymnorhiz (large-leafed orange mangrove). You can read more about them in this Miami Herald article.



Mangroves deal with their high saline environment in different ways. Red mangroves are salt excluders. The root membranes prevent salt from entering the plant as it takes in water. Black mangroves and white mangroves are salt excretors. They have glands in the surface of the leaves to remove salt. White mangroves are believed to accumulate salt in the succulent leaves, which at some point are dropped as a method of salt removal.



All four Florida mangroves have simple leaves that are entire (not lobed nor toothed). Buttonwood has alternate leaves, the other three mangroves have opposite leaves. Red mangrove leaves are elliptic shaped and leathery. Black mangrove leaves are elliptic to lanceolate and green on top with a grayish pubescence on the underside. White mangrove leaves are oval shaped, leathery, smooth, succulent, light green on both sides and often with a notched tip. They have a prominent pair of glands on the petiole just below tha base of the leaf. Buttonwood leaves are oblong, shiny green on top and lighter below with a tip coming to a point and a pair of glands along the margin at the base of the leaf.



 mangrove leaf comparison



The glands of white and button mangroves are widely, but possibly erroneously, said to be salt-excreting glands. Their function is unclear, but they may be extra-floral nectaries or vestigial remnants of no-longer functioning nectaries.



Two of the native mangroves have specialized adaptations to help them survive in the soft moist sediments along the shoreline. These characteristics make very convenient methods of identification. Red mangroves have distinctive prop roots arching out from the trunk and dropping from branches. Black mangroves have widespread shallow root systems that send up aerial roots called pneumatophores. In additon to helping with stabilization, both the prop and aerial roots assist the plant in taking in atmospheric gasses that are not availible in the anaerobic soils where they grow.



 red and black mangrove root comparison



Red mangrove flowers appear in clusters of two to four growing from the leaf axils and are about 3/4 inch in diameter with four pale yellow narrowly triangular to lanceolate sepals and four creamy-white narrowly lanceolate to linear recurving wooly petals that turn brown with age before dropping. Black mangrove flowers are borne in conical clusters with each flower having a yellowish center surrounded by four white petals. White mangrove flowers are in a raceme that grows from the leaf axils and the branch tips. Each flower is tubular, pale green with five greenish-white petal lobes. Buttonwood flowers are in clusters of spheres (the 'buttons') that also grow from leaf axils and branch tips. The individual flowers are tiny and numerous and mostly bisexual with a two-winged tubular base and a cup-like calyx with five lobes, 5 to 10 protruding stamens and a slender style.



 mangrove flower comparison



Three of these species have a unique method of propagation called viviparity. In plants this is when the seeds germinate and sprout while still attached to the parent plant. Black, red and white mangroves are viviparous allowing the sprouted fruit - called propagules - to drop and typically float to another location to take root. Button mangroves do not exhibit viviparity.



The fruit and propagules can also assist in identification of the mangrove species. Red mangroves develop the most while still attached, the cone shaped fruit being dwarfed by the long green radicle that extends from the apex. Black mangrove fruit is a flattened pod that somewhat resembles a lima bean. These can often be seen washed up along the shore with the fuzzy radicle protruding from the split open propagule. White mangrove fruit is a small flattened, ribbed cone that is wider towards the tip and the propagules have a root-like radicle that can be seen while still on the tree or more frequently while floating in the water. Buttonwood fruits are a sphere with a diameter of about a half inch that turns purplish-brown when mature.



 mangrove fruit comparison



Mangroves are expanding their range northward as a result of climate change. Coastal areas that were historically salt marsh are slowly evolving into mangrove dominated habitats. Both salt marsh and mangrove ecosystems are important and have their advantages, however the long term effects of this change is unknown.



Paul Rebmann
Sept. 18, 2019

Summer Vacations

August 22nd, 2018

Summer Vacations

Summer vacation

With the passing of Labor Day marking the end of summer from a cultural perspective, though not quite the closing of the season in either a meteorological or astronomical calendar, I thought summer vacations would be a fitting subject. As someone who still has a non-photography day job, vacations often present opportunities to pursue my part-time career while still providing recreation and 'down-time'. Over the years Virginia and I have traveled to a number of places, during which I have managed to capture some interesting subjects, branching out from my mainstay of Florida photography. Some of the highlights can be seen in my Pacific Northwest and Michigan galleries.

For instance, last summer took us to Oregon with a dip into the redwoods of northern California. After several days experiencing the Portland scene, we ventured out, first to a cabin at Detroit Lake where our local friends took us on some drives to higher altitudes to discover that the wildflowers were as abundant in mid-summer there as they were in the southern Appalachians in spring. Among these wildflowers were bird's-foot trefoil which I captured in an image called Fabaceae Circle. The camping portion of the trip began at Silver Falls State Park where I found Salmonberries in fruit next to our campsite. A short stay only allowed us to see some of the many waterfalls in this park, but I was very pleased with one of the images I made of the main falls that I titled Silver Falls Silver Mist. In Mt. Hood National Forest we stayed in a yurt along Lost Creek with an enchanting nature walk next to the campground, which revealed many subjects for my camera. A drive up a small, sometimes washed out, hillside road lead me to a vistas where I made Mt. Hood. At another location the conifers were framing the peak for Mt. Hood #2. We left the mountain area by way of the scenic Columbia River, and after another night in Portland headed to at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park for more camping, where we were introduced to the cute but noisy Douglas Squirrels. A scenic drive down the Oregon Coast Highway took us to the majestic redwoods of northern California.

A previous trip to the Pacific Northwest in 2003 had us visiting Washington and British Columbia. We started by visiting Mt. Rainier National Park, where I quickly realized that cloudless views of the peak were limited to early in the day. The next portion of that trip was into the Olympic Peninsula and the Pacific Ocean, where I saw sea stacks for the first time that I can remember, including Cake Rock at Rialto Beach. We also visited Dungeness Harbor before taking a ferry to Vancouver Island.

2009 found us in the upper peninsula of Michigan, staying with a group of friends from around the country in a cabin at Van Riper State Park which served as our base for exploring the area. One busy day included Big Bay Point Light, Alder Falls, which I also did in black and white, and both the upper and lower cascades on Pup Creek. Before culminating our day of sightseeing with locally brewed beers in Marquette the group visited an interesting geologic formation in Ishpeming where an outcrop of jaspilite can be seen at the top of a hill. On our way to our next destination Virginia and I visited Pictured Rocks National Seashore, where the sights included Munising Falls and Miners Castle jutting out into Lake Superior.

Combining vacations with photographic opportunities may mean not being in a place at the ultimate best time for imaging, is also presents subjects that I might not otherwise have captured.

Paul Rebmann
Sept. 3, 2014

Appalachian Trail Photography

July 21st, 2018

Appalachian Trail Photography

Last fall as an important project at my day job was coming to a close, I mentioned to my friend Daniel that I had some vacation time I needed to take before the end of the year and we began discussing possible outdoor trips. Considering various kayaking and/or backpacking locations for what was looking like a mid-December trip, I sent an e-mail that included "I did have what is probably a crazy idea that we might want to hike the first stretch of the Appalachian Trail...". Daniel did not think that was so crazy and we proceeded our planning from there.

We both have done many backpacking trips, from overnight to a week, but had never been on the Appalachian Trail for more than a few miles. Having just turned 60 I thought it was about time that I did an AT section hike. Since it had been a number of years since either of us had been backpacking in the mountains and with the time of the year creating the possibility of seriously cold weather, snow and ice, gear and clothing selection took into consideration weight and likely cold hiking and camping conditions.

Following almost two months of planning, gear selection and stepped up physical training, we met at one of the campsites in the Three Forks area near where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Noontootla River. Noontootla Creek #1 was one of the photographs I made near camp the next morning before we headed off to drop off a cache of food along the trail and then to Neel Gap to start the hike.

It was very late in the day as we reached the highest peak of our hike, where we were treated to a beautiful View from Blood Mountain of the Blue Ridge. This is also the greatest elevation in the Apalachicola River watershed making Blood Mountain the highest source of water that reaches Florida. Amazing to think that rain falling on this remote north Georgia peak could be part of the fresh water essential to the oysters in Apalachicola Bay.

Purchase a 20.00" x 16.00" stretched canvas print of Paul Rebmann's View from Blood Mountain for the promotional price of $75
Sale ends at 5 pm Monday, Feb. 23.

Art Prints

After passing the historic rebuilt stone AT shelter, we descended down to a group of campsites where we stopped for the night just as the sun was setting.
Photography Prints
At the nearby water source, we met the first of several groups of through hikers nearing the end of their long journey on the AT.

A surprise to both of us was how many other hikers were also on the trail at this time of year. Of the several dozen people we saw during our trek, almost ten were finishing up hikes from Maine. Most of the times that I have been backpacking, I seldom see other people, and if I do it is usually only 1 or 2, or a single group. Hiking the AT is much more social than either Daniel or myself were used to.

The second day of hiking was a long one and included the View from Big Cedar Mountain along the way. That night was the only rain of the trip while we were snug in the bivies and mostly dry under the tarp.

A short day of hiking brought us to Gooch Gap were we camped on a long unused roadbed on the side of a hill near where we stashed supplies. The next morning was the only one where I got up before the sun - just barely - and captured Appalachian Sunrise.

Sell Art Online

Also that morning I photographed the small nearby streams making End of the Road Falls and Walden Creek Cascade.

Taking a break and refilling water bottles at Justus Creek also provided a photographic opportunity. This was the last water source until Hawk Mountain shelter, which we reached right around dusk, ending one of the longer days on the trail.

A short day of hiking allowed a side trek to Long Creek Falls and retrieval of my car at Neel Gap after selecting a campsite for our last two nights. Long Creek Falls Swoosh is a perspective looking down from a midpoint of the several cascades.

This final camp was several miles downstream from our first Three Forks camp. Here I made Noontootla Creek #2, Noontootla Creek #3 and Noontootla Flow and Swirl.

We drove up to the approach parking lot and hiked up to Springer Mountain then back down to Three Forks to finish our section hike. The View from Springer Mountain was particularly nice as we enjoyed our accomplishment at reaching the summit of the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. See the image at the head of this post, that is Daniel on the left and I am on the right.

On the last morning I made Noontootla Creek #4 before heading back home to Florida.

Paul Rebmann
Feb. 17, 2015

Wiliam Bartram

July 21st, 2018

Wiliam Bartram

William Bartram was born in 1738 in the family home (pictured here at the end of March) overlooking the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia. His father was John Bartram, widely considered the Father of American Botany and co-founder with Benjamin Franklin and others of the Philadelphia Philosophical Society. When William was 27 he accompanied his father on his first expedition into Georgia and Florida. The purpose of this trip was to provide a report and collection of plants to King George III on the area recently acquired by England from Spain.

After that expedition, William returned to the southeastern colonies on behalf of private English benefactors who in return received much of what he collected. He also attempted at one point to start a plantation in Florida along the St. Johns River, an endeavor that did not last long. After returning to Pennsylvania, he wrote and eventually published his famous and popular book Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida. In it he described the plants and creatures that he encountered in this strange wild land, including the natives, with which he had many interactions. The chief of the Alachua tribe called William 'puc-puggy', which was 'flower hunter' in their language.

Bartrams Ixia by Paul Rebmann

As a result of the botanical knowledge that he brought back to scientists with his drawings and collections, a number of species bear the Bartram name in William's honor (and also a few for his father). The images here include several that I have photographed, one of these is Bartram's Ixia, a small wildflower that is only found in northeastern Florida, mostly in the area surrounding Bartram's failed plantation. Calydorea caelestina blooms in the late spring and into the summer. Each of the violet-blue flowers open only once early in the day, start closing during mid-morning, and are usually gone by noon. When not in bloom, the plant is nondescript, appearing as though it was some kind of grass. Travels included a drawing of this Ixea.

Bartrams Ixia and Bee #2 by Paul Rebmann

Here is a sample from Travels where William is returning down the St. Johns river in his small boat and has spent a pleasant night camped in an orange grove along the river. After arising and attending to his vessel, he ventures into a field beyond the grove: "What a beautiful display of vegetation is here before me! Seemingly unlimited in extent and variety: how the dew-drops twinkle and play upon the sight, trembling on the tips of the lucid, green savanna, sparkling as the gem that flames on the turban of the eastern prince. See the pearly tears rolling off the buds of the expanding Granadilla:* behold the azure fields of cerulean Ixia!"
*Granadilla = Passiflora incarnata - purple passionflower, maypop

Bartrams Ixia and Bee #3 by Paul Rebmann

Another interesting plant named for William is Bartram's airplant - Tillandsia bartramii. This epiphytic plant anchors itself on tree branches and trunks and derives sustenance by absorbing nutrients from the rain, dew, dust, decaying leaves and insect matter. Bartram's airplant can be found in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tamaulipas, Mexico. In the image here, a tubular violet flower can be seen emerging from rose-red bracts. The plant forms a globular cluster of needle-like leaves.

Bartrams Airplant Flower by Paul Rebmann

A documentary titled Cultivating the Wild: William Bartram's Travels is in the works centered around William Bartram and the nature that he explored. A sample of this project can be seen at https://vimeo.com/148183049.

When Travels was first published, many readers were skeptical about some of his descriptions, such as the size, ferocity and number of alligators that he encountered, and of the civilized nature of the native tribes, which many people at the time considered savages. As time passed and more people ventured into the same areas, they discovered that his fantastical descriptions did have a basis in fact.

As I venture into the wild natural areas of Florida while hiking, canoeing or kayaking, I sometimes try to imagine what this must have seemed like to a young man from Pennsylvania over two hundred years ago.

Paul Rebmann
Spet. 29, 2016

Pitcherplants in May

July 21st, 2018

Pitcherplants in May

The Sarraceniaceae is a family of carnivorous plants known as the pitcher-plants. Members of this plant family have modified leaves that form a pitcher of various shapes and colors that traps and digests insects. This allows these plants to thrive in low-nutrient soils as is found in some bogs and other usually wet locations. Unlike the better-known venus fly-trap, the pitcher-plants catch their prey without any moving parts, using the shape of the pitcher, hairs and/or chemicals instead to capture their meals.

Other than the California pitcherplant - Darlingtonia californica - on the west coast, all of the North American species of the pitcher-plant family are in the genus Sarracenia. A number of these can be found in the southeastern states, with one - Sarracenia purpurea - also occurring across the colder regions of the continent.

Pitcherplant Hoods by Paul Rebmann

In Florida the most widespread of these is the hooded pitcherplant. Sarracenia minor is the only species found in the Florida peninsula., occurring from just north of Lake Okeechobee, west into the central panhandle and into Georgia and the Carolinas. While I see these fairly frequently, they are seldom as nice looking and not obscured by other plants as they were early this May in Tiger Bay State Forest.

Pitcherplant Flower by Paul Rebmann

All of the other pitcherplants are absent from the Florida peninsula, occurring mostly in the panhandle and various southeastern states. I have seen several of these during Florida Native Plant Society conference field trips in the Apalachicola National Forest. During these and other visits in the forest, I have seen many color variations of Sarracenia flava, yellow pitcherplants. At one of the locations visited, I went back after the field trip and made the image that I call O'Sarracenia.

Award-winning O Sarracenia by Paul Rebmann

This memorial day weekend I visited Tate's Hell State Forest, stopping at an area that was recently burned to check out a big patch of Oceola's Plume. Here I also discovered fresh leaves of parrot pitcherplants. In this species, the hood resembles a parrot head and obscures the small opening that allows insects into the trap.

Fresh Parrot Pitcherplants by Paul Rebmann

There are many variations on the details of how the area got its name, but all revolve around Cebe Tate, a farmer who in 1875 went hunting a panther that was killing his livestock and had a lengthily and harrowing experience in the wild. It alleged that when he emerged from the swampland he stated that that ..."I just came from Hell". After which the area came to be known as Tate's Hell. Now a state forest , it is popular with hunters, paddlers enjoying the New River, birders seeking red-cockaded woodpeckers, migrating warblers and more, plus other nature lovers.

Whitetop Pitcherplant by Paul Rebmann

My primary objective this day was to find whitetop pitcherplants, a species that I possibly seen before late in the year. They were dried, brown and mostly toppled pitchers along the Florida Trail in Blackwater River State Forest and could have been either yellow (S. flava) or whitetop (S. leucophylla) pitcherplants. After scouting around in Tate's Hell, stopping here and there to photograph various subjects, I finally found some Sarracenia leucophylla and was able to make some photographs before a thunderstorm moved in and sent me on my way.

Whitetop Pitcherplants And Clouds by Paul Rebmann

While May is not the only time you can see pitcherplants, it does happen that all of the images seen here were taken in May of various years. Most of these species would probably have prettier flowers earlier in the season, before the drooping petals fall off.

Paul Rebmann
June 6, 2016

Bigflower Pawpaw

July 21st, 2018

Bigflower Pawpaw

This is the first in a series of posts that will focus on images in the Only in Florida exhibit, now on display in the Lyonia Gallery in Deltona.

Bigflower Pawpaw by Paul Rebmann Bigflower Pawpaw, photographed in the Lyonia Preserve, Deltona, Florida.

In 1774 while traveling in present day Putnam county from Spaldings lower store at Stokes Landing to Halfway pond (now known as Cowpen Lake) William Bartram saw many new shrubs, "particularly a species of annona...". Bartram went on to describe what is now known as Asimina obovata in his Travels through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, a book that was not published until 1791. Imagine how difficult it was to get a book published in the 18th century, even if your dad (John Bartram) started a really cool club (the American Philosophical Society) with one of the area's most famous printers (Benjamin Franklin), who was known to come over and hang out at the house for chats (Bartram's Gardens).

Bartram House in summer The home of John & William Bartram at Bartram Gardens, Philadelphia.

In the meantime André Michaux was exploring Florida for France in 1787. Michaux also noticed this plant near the Indian River in present day Brevard County where he "collected two Annonas, one of which was a new species with very large white flowers...".

View online purchase options for Bigflower Pawpaw #2 by Paul Rebmann

Both of these early botanical explorers were describing an endemic Florida species - Asimina obovata - or bigflower pawpaw. This plant is only found in the Florida peninsula from just south of Jacksonville to Lake Okeechobee.

Bigflower Pawpaw grows in a variety of habitats, but tends towards scrubby, sandy areas. Most frequently a shrub it can become treelike and reach up to 15 feet tall. The large white to greenish-white flowers can be seen from March through May after the current season's new leaves have emerged. The flowers form at the ends of short lateral shoots. The tips of these shoots and the veins on the undersides of the leaves are red-pubescent(fuzzy), one of the distinguishing marks that help identify this species. Another is the maroon corrugated area on the inside base of the inner petals.
Bigflower Pawpaw showing inside of flowerShowing the maroon base on the inside of the petals.

For more information and photos of Bigflower Pawpaw visit the Wild Florida Photo Asimina obovata page.

Paul Rebmann
March 20, 2016

Weather Relativity

July 21st, 2018

Weather Relativity

Now that winter has actually arrived, both here in Florida and in points north, I want to look back at just last month when much of the eastern United States was experiencing temperatures that could be used as a textbook example of 'unseasonable'.

Unless you have been living in a remote cave I am sure you have heard the reports that 2015 was the warmest year on record. In fact December was globally the warmest calendar month in 136 years of weather history. For anyone who wants to read more on this, Jeff Master's blog at Weather Underground is an excellent summary.

In Florida the weather was only marginally cool enough to camp a few days in November and December when it is usually ideal weather to sit around a campfire and sleep in a tent.

Lake Norris Kayak by Paul Rebmann

In mid-December I had heard that the water level was high enough to allow easy paddling up to Lake Norris. This had long been on my kayaking to-do list, so I enjoyed a beautiful Sunday on the water paddling upstream on Blackwater Creek, winding through the cypress swamp then all the way around Lake Norris and back. This scenic water body in Lake County is similar in appearance to Lake Disston in Flagler Co (see my October post) and Blue Cypress Lake in Indian River County.

Scarlet Hibiscus #3 by Paul Rebmann

I was surprised to come across several scarlet hibiscus flowers along the edge of Lake Norris. It is not that this is an unusual place to see them because it is not. In fact, the best way to see this magnificent native wildflower is by boat, as it favors the wet edges of streams and ponds. But it is a summer or early fall bloomer, with flowers most often seen in July and August in this area.

During the Christmas bird count, our team noticed a few anomalies with the types and numbers of birds seen, including a low count of robins, which in a more typical year would have been driven here in large numbers by cold weather. While out canvasing birds we saw several out-of season flowers. The azaleas might not be that unusual, as they do tend to flower sporadically during even slightly mild winters earlier than their more typical late February blooms. But the big surprise were the southern magnolia flowers, which would normally be seen from late spring into early summer.

Magnolia Blossom by Paul Rebmann

These untimely floral phenomena might be just a observational curiosity. It is unlikely - as can often happen farther north when plants bud and flower too early - that freezes will significantly harm the coming year's normal plant cycles. But as a fellow naturalist pointed out the other day, the last time there was a winter similar to this was 1997-1998. That was during an El Niño event, one that up until then was the strongest in history but surpassed by the current cycle. The warm and wet winter promoted a lot of unseasonable growth. Followed by a shift to a La Niña weather pattern that brought a dry spring and summer, making all that extra growth prime fuel for the most devastating wildfire season Florida had ever experienced. Each El Niño and La Niña period do not necessarily duplicate the resulting weather of previous events, but many of the factors that influence the weather in various areas can tend to be similar. Hopefully weather history will not repeat itself and that the increase in prescribed burns in the intervening years has helped lower the fuel load in many of Florida's natural areas and therefore make any wildfires that do occur more manageable.

Starting a Good Fire by Paul Rebmann

Paul Rebmann
January 26, 2016

2015 Year in Review

July 21st, 2018

2015 Year in Review

With the year coming to a close I looked back at the photographs that I made over the past twelve months and picked some of my favorites to share with you here.


View from Blood Mountain by Paul Rebmann


Last December this "View from Blood Mountain" presented itself near the end of my first day of backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. This shows the Blue Ridge Mountains in north Georgia form the highest peak of that week's hike. This trip was the subject of my February post and was followed up with another week of backpacking the next section of trail at the beginning of March. That hike was encapsulated in a video by Danial Reed which can be seen in the YouTube video "A. T. Neal's Gap to Dicks Creek Gap".


Swallow-tailed Kite #1 by Paul Rebmann


The swallow-tailed kite pictured here (and also at the top of this post) was captured (photographically) near Goethe State Forest. I had been there to hike one of the forest's Trailwalker trails and try and find some of the spring orchids to photograph. I did not have much luck with the orchids, but I did find other wildflowers and wildlife including a red-headed woodpecker and a Sherman's fox squirrel, the latter of which eluded the camera. This kite was plucking things to eat out of the tops of some trees, occasionally swooping low and close to the position I had taken near the trees of a fencerow. I did get some nice images of green addersmouth orchid on the way home that day at a location I knew about near Ocala.


Cypress Osprey Duo by Paul Rebmann


This image from Lake Disston (see October post) is what I consider an iconic Florida scene, but one that is mostly only seen by kayakers, canoeists and fishermen out enjoying the state's lakes and rivers. The image shows two osprey, one on the nest and another perched nearby, in an old, gnarly, weatherbeaten cypress tree growing in the shallows of the lake surrounded by spatterdock leaves.


Seaoats at Dawn by Paul Rebmann


Closer to home on the Atlantic coast this summer I photographed seaoats backlit by the early morning sun.


Slender Gayfeather by Paul Rebmann


Once the heat of summer broke, Virginia & I went camping at Hillsborough River State Park in October. The entrance road to the park was lined with spectacular fields of Liatris in bloom. This wildflower has several names, also known as gayfeather or blazing star. This is one of the images that I made while we were there.


I hope that you have enjoyed my photographs from the past year and that you are also inspired to go out and enjoy nature.


Paul Rebmann
December 14, 2015

Exhibits

July 21st, 2018

Exhibits

The photography of Paul Rebmann is being shown in two public venues.
The Halifax Historical Museum is featuring the exhibit "Our Natural World Around Us" and one of the entrance displays at the Ormond Beach Library will be filled with Wild Florida Photos during The month of August.

Online purchase options for Anhinga Pine by Paul Rebmann

One of the themes of both exhibits features photographs of plants named after some of Florida's botanical explorers, such as Curtiss' milkweed named for Allen Hiram Curtiss (1845-1907).
Online purchase options for Curtiss’ Milkweed #1 by Paul Rebmann
Other explorers with images of their namesake plants include Mark Catesby (1683-1749), André Michaux (1746-1802), William Bartram (1739-1823), and Ferdinand Rugel (1806-1879).

Another theme is "Only in Florida" featuring state endemic species like the Forida Scrub Jay.
Online purchase options for Scrub Jay on Chop by Paul Rebmann
A couple of the other species found only in Florida include the peninsula cooter, Florida Indian Plantain and Celestial Lily.

Both exhibits are filled out with other images of Florida scenes, flora and fauna

Online purchase options for Celestial Lily by Paul Rebmann

"Our Natural World Around Us" opened on July 14th and will be on display at the Halifax Historical Museum, 252 S. Beach St, in downtown Daytona Beach through November 14.
An online version of the exhibit can be found at the Wild Florida Photo Halifax Historical Museum exhibit section.
During this exhibit run, I will be featuring one or two images from the exhibit at a time in limited time sales of 11 inch by 14 inch stretched gallery wrap canvas prints for only $50.
To see which image is on sale, visit the Wild Florida Photo home page or the "Our Natural World Around Us" page, and/or follow on twitter @WildFlPhoto.

An online version of the Ormond Beach Library display is also available. The photographs will be on display at the Ormond Beach Library at 30 S. Beach St, Ormond Beach, FL.

Paul Rebmann
July 31, 2015

Florida Verve

July 21st, 2018

Florida Verve

The nature photography of Paul Rebmann was the subject of a profile earlier this year in Florida Verve, an online art and culture magazine.

You can read that profile at Florida Views: Paul Rebmann's Nature Photography.

 

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