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Abstract
Coastalplain honeycombhead is found in beach dunes, coastal grasslands, and scrub throughout Florida and into Alabama and Mississippi. It is a prolific flower and seed producer that attracts numerous pollinators, including the gulf fritillary butterfly. Interestingly, the endemic, solitary, and ground-dwelling coastal plain Hesperapis (Hesperapis oraria), also known as Balduina bee, is completely dependent on the coastalplain honeycombhead for survival, only emerging from the ground a few weeks each year in September to October to collect pollen and nectar (Hunsburger 2013). This bee only occurs on barrier islands and peninsulas in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Hunsburger 2013) and is particularly vulnerable to climate-change-driven sea-level
rise and habitat fragmentation.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg163
Note: This fact sheet is also available as a chapter in a comprehensive manual titled Dune Restoration and Enhancement for the Florida Panhandle, Please see the manual for more information about other useful and attractive native plants for dunes and for further information about restoration and preservation techniques.
References
Hunsburger, H. 2013. "Distribution and habitat use of Florida endemic solitary bee Hesperapis oraria and host plant Balduina angustifolia." Master's thesis. University of Florida.
Pérez, H.E. 2007. Final Report FWAC Grant #R-006-06. 3 p. Smith, A.M., S.B. Wilson, M. Thetford, K.L. Nolan, and C. Reinhardt Adams. 2014. "Performance of nine Florida native wildflower species grown in varying container substrates." Native Plants Journal 15(1):75-86. https://doi.org/10.3368/npj.15.1.75
Wilson, S.B., H. Perez, and M. Thetford. 2010. Propagation, Production, and Landscape Evaluation of Native Wildflowers in West, Central and South Florida. Condensed Progress Report for the Florida Wildflower Foundation. http://flawildflowers.org/resources/pdfs/pdf2012/Wildflower%20year-end%20progress%20report-Wilson%20et%20al.pdf
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