The Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located in four separated areas on the Lake Wales Ridge east of US 27 between Davenport and Sebring Florida. The 1,194 acre (4.8 km2) refuge was established in 1990, to protect a host of plants and animals. It is also the first to be designated primarily for the preservation of endangered plants, and is not open to the general public. It contains a high proportion of remaining Florida scrub habitat. It is administered as part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Conradina is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. Its common name is false rosemary, or rarely, short leaf rosemary. There are 7 species of Conradina, all native to the southeastern United States. Conradina verticillata grows on the Cumberland Plateau in Kentucky and Tennessee. The other five grow mainly in Florida. All of the species are closely related and there is some doubt about whether they are all separate. Most species occupy xeric habitats with well-drained soils composed of white sand. The genus Conradina was established by Asa Gray in 1870. It was named for the American botanist Solomon White Conrad.
Warea carteri is a species of plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae, known by the common names Carter's pinelandcress and Carter's mustard. It is an endangered, fire-dependent annual herb occurring in xeric, shrub-dominated habitats on the Lake Wales Ridge of central Florida in the United States.
Chionanthus pygmaeus is a rare species of flowering plant in the olive family known by the common name pygmy fringetree. It is endemic to Florida, where there are 46 known occurrences as of 2010. The plant is found in increasingly rare habitat in Central Florida that is being consumed for development, and some protected areas are not managed adequately. Most populations are small. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Conradina brevifolia is a rare species of shrub in the mint family known by the common name short-leaved false rosemary. It is endemic to Central Florida, where it is known only from the Lake Wales Ridge. There are perhaps 36 occurrences of the plant remaining, and 10 of these are likely to be destroyed as their habitat is fragmented in the coming years. About 15% of the Lake Wales Ridge, the only home territory of the plant, remains today, the rest having been cleared for development and citrus groves. Few of the extant populations have more than 25 plants. This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Conradina etonia is a rare species of shrub in the mint family known by the common name Etonia rosemary. It is endemic to Putnam County, Florida, where it is known from about 8 populations on Etoniah Creek State Forest containing fewer than 1000 total individuals. It has a specific habitat requirement and the main threat it faces is destruction and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Conradina glabra is a rare species of shrub known by the common names Apalachicola rosemary or Apalachicola false rosemary. It is endemic to Liberty County, Florida, where it is known from about ten populations. It is found only in a small area and it is threatened by habitat destruction. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Dicerandra christmanii is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names Garrett's mint, yellow scrub balm, and Lake Wales balm. It is endemic to Highlands County, Florida, in the United States, where it is known from only four sites on the Lake Wales Ridge. All are contained within a tract of land measuring 6 kilometers by 3 kilometers. The plant is steadily declining due to the destruction and degradation of its habitat, and only one of the four occurrences is on protected land. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Dicerandra cornutissima is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names longspurred mint, longspurred balm, and Robin's mint. It is endemic to Florida in the United States. It is found in Marion County, and possibly Sumter County, but it may have been totally extirpated from the latter. There are 12 known occurrences remaining as of 2017, down from 15 in 2000. The plant was federally listed as an endangered species in 1985.
Dicerandra immaculata is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names Lakela's mint, Olga's mint, and spotless balm. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is known only from Indian River and St. Lucie counties. There are seven occurrences of the plant, two of which are scheduled for destruction as the land is cleared for development. The plant was federally listed as an endangered species in 1985.
Dicerandra is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family. Dicerandra comprises 11 species: six perennial and five annual species. The perennials have narrow ranges in Central Florida with small population sizes and only occur on ancient dune ridges along the Lake Wales Ridge or the Atlantic Coastal Ridge; the annual species occur more broadly on sandhill habitats to the north. The perennials’ habitat has been severely fragmented due to human development over the past century. As a result, all perennial species except one are listed as federally endangered. Annual species of the clade have large ranges when compared to perennial members, with distributions of annuals ranging for hundreds of miles from the Panhandle of Florida to southeastern Georgia, with the exception of Dicerandra radfordiana which is endemic to two sites along the Altamaha river. The genus is characterized by hornlike spurs on their anthers.
Eryngium cuneifolium is a rare species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common names wedgeleaf eryngo, wedge-leaved button-snakeroot, and simply snakeroot. It is endemic to the state of Florida in the United States where it is known only from Highlands County. It is one of many rare species that can be found only on the Lake Wales Ridge, an area of high endemism. It was federally listed as an endangered species of the United States in 1987.
Hypericum cumulicola is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae known by the common name highlands scrub hypericum, or highlands scrub St. John's wort. It is endemic to Florida, where it is threatened by habitat loss and degradation. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Lupinus aridorum is a rare species of lupine known by the common name scrub lupine. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where there were 10 known populations remaining in 2003. Fewer than 6000 individual plants were counted. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. The scrub lupine is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Prunus geniculata is a rare species of plum known by the common name scrub plum. The species is endemic to Florida.
Clinopodium dentatum is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names toothed savory and Florida calamint. It is native to Florida and Georgia in the United States.
Pyrausta phoenicealis, the perilla leaf moth, is a moth of the family Crambidae described by Jacob Hübner in 1818. It is found worldwide, including the Americas, Africa, Australia and Asia.
Dicerandra modesta is a species of Dicerandra endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida. It is commonly known as blushing scrub balm. It is a listed state and federal endangered species. It is known only from a few populations in Polk County, Florida. It grows in scrub and sand hills.
Osmia calaminthae, commonly known as the blue calamintha bee, is a rare species of mason bee known only from two small areas in Florida, United States. It is considered Critically Imperiled by NatureServe. The common name for the bee is derived from its distinctly blue color and its favored host plant, Calamintha ashei.
Acanthomintha ilicifolia, known by the common name San Diego thornmint, is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family. It is native to Baja California and San Diego County, California, where it is a resident of the chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities and vernal pools.
