Birders have a contest called “The Big Year”, which challenges them to identify the most different species of bird in one calendar year. In 2011, there was a movie about The Big Year starring Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson. The Big Year can be traced back to 1939, when a guy named Guy Emerson recorded 497 different bird species in North America. In 2013, I decided to do a Big Year with wildflowers in Florida.
The following are all flowers I found and identified in 2013. The entries are in chronological order, and include only the new flowers I saw that day. At the end is a gallery of all the flowers I couldn’t identify.
I used the photographs I took to develop an iPhone app called Flowerida.
(This post is a work in progress. I still have many photos to upload, and if I can manage to identify a few more of flowers that I found, I can get my total for the year over 100)
Sunday, January 13, 2013
1. Wild Bachelor’s Button
Polygala rugelii
2. Goldenaster
Pityopsis graminifolia
3. Cowpea
Vigna Luteola
4. Long-leaf Violet
Viola lanceolata
5. Tickseed Sunflower
Bidens aristosa
6. Rattlebox
Crotalaria spectabilis
7. Tickseed
Coreopsis leavenworthii
8. Bushy Aster
Aster dumosus
9. Bantam Buttons
Eriocaulon decangulare
10. Water Primrose – Ludwigia spp.
11. Yellow wood sorrel – Oxalis stricta
12. Roserush – Lygodesmia aphylla
13. Hairy Indigo – Indigofera hirsuta
14. Innocence – Hedyotis procumbens
15. Lawn Orchid – Zeuxine strateumatica
16. Pineland Daisy – Chaptalia tormentosa
Sunday, March 10, 2013
17. Sand Blackberry – Rosaceae (Rose) Rubus cuneifolius
18. Spanish Needle*
19. Tread Softly – Euphorbiaceae (Spurge) Cnidosculus stimulosos
20. Sand Cherry – Solanaceae (Nightshade) Physalis walteri
21. Dollar-weed – Leguminosae (Pea) Rhynchosia reniformis
22. Lantana*
23. Prickly pear cactus
24. Rosary Pea
25. Poison Ivy
26. Partridge Pea
27. Sandweed
28. Toadflax
29. Salt marsh flea bane
30. Blue Lettuce – Lactuca graminifolia
31. Blue-eyed Grass – Iridaceae (Iris) Sisyrinchium angustifolium
32. Star Rush
33. Goldenrod
34. Beach Sunflower
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Brenda’s Island (a small spoil Island off the Dunedin Causeway)
35. Painted Leaf
36. Virginia Creeper
Sunday, April 14, 2013
37. Southern Guara – Guara angustifolia
38. Southern Fleabane. Erigeron quercifolius
39. Clustered Rock Rose
40. Saw Palmetto
41. Toadflax, Nuttalanthus canadensis
42. Nightshade
43. Seaside heliotrope. Heliotropium curassavicum
44. Sea purslane. Sesuvium portulacastrum
45. Beach Morning Glory
46. White Seaside Gentain
47. Seaside Gentain
48. Sand blackberry
49. Water pimpernel. Samolus ebracteatus
50. Sea Oxeye. Borrichea frutescens
51. Blue Eyed Grass
52. Beach Dune Sunflower
53. Giant ladies tresses. Spiranthes praecox
Saturday, May 18, 2013
54. Horrible Thistle
55. Buttonbush – Cephalanthus occidentalis
56. Saw Palmetto (flowering)
57. Bantam Buttons
58. Water Dropwort – Oxypolis filiformis
59. Passionflower – Passiflora incarnata
June 2, 2013
60. Coastal Rose Gentian – Sabatia calycina
61. Water Hemlock – Cicuta maculata
62. Swamp Lily – Crinum americanum
63. Arrowhead
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Little Manatee River State Park
64. Beard Tongue
65. St. Peter’s Wort
66. Narrow Leaved Sunflower
67. Blue Curls Trichostema dichotomum
Saturday, August 17, 2013
68. Spotted Bee Balm
69. Wild Balsam Apple
70. Tread Softly Cnidoscolus stimulosus
71. Erect Dayflower – Commelina erecta
72. Sea Lavender – Limonium Carolinianum
73. Railroad Vine – Ipomoea pes-caprae
74. Butterfly Pea
75. Beautyberry
76. Seashore Mallow – Kosteletzkya virginica
77. Seaside Gentian – Eustoma exultatum
Monday, September 2, 2013
78. Pale Meadow Beauty
79. Yellow Eyed Grass
80. Bladderpod – Sesbania vesicaria
81. Pickerelweed
Sunday, September 8, 2013
82. Creeping Cucumber – Melothria pendula
83. Bahama Senna
84. Narrow-Leaved Sabatia
85. Florida Elephant’s Foot – Elephantopus Elatus
86. Blackroot – Pterocaulon pychnostachium
87. Sweet Everlasting – Gnapholium obtusifolium
88. Common Blue Hearts – Buchnera americana
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park
89. Catesby’s Lily
90. Large Flowered Sabatia – Sabatia grandiflora
91. Yellow Buttons – Baldunia angustifola
92. Asiatic Hawk’s Beard – Youngia japonica
93. Deer Tongue
94. Blazing Star
Eric Z. Beard 
Hi there, You’ve done a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends.
I’m confident they will be benefited from this site.
Very nice blog post. I absolutely appreciate this site.
Thanks!