Queen's Delight is a perennial found in most pine woods and dunes throughout the Coastal Plain; however, its brief flowering cycle renders it nearly impossible to see unless the general plant makeup is known beforehand. The most likely places to search for Queen's Delight are sandy woods and open areas near ponds and streams. Look for an upright plant about two feet tall, smooth stem and bright green leaves that may appear as a whorl beneath the flower spike. It may have several stems arising from the same rootstock. The seeds are a food source for quail.

Wild Poinsettia is easily recognized by the red splotches at the base of new growth leaves. The plant is known to form large colonies that might appear as a tangled mass of vines, but as a solitary plant it will stand upright, spreading its numerous woody branches. Most scientific descriptions refer to it as "Painted Leaf" since only a small piece of the leaf turns color. The coloring normally begins in early June and will have completed the cycle by end of November. This is an annual that transplants well and will spread rapidly once established. But, don't depend on it being where you left it the year before because the seeds disperse rapidly and the plant escapes easily.

The "Christmas" poinsettias arrived in the United States through their namesake - Joel Poinsett, who was America's first ambassador to Mexico. Poinsett saw the plants growing wild in Mexico and brought some back to his home state of South Carolina in 1828. He began cultivating them and sharing them with friends and botanical gardens. They were given an official botanical name E. pulcherrima; which roughly translated means, "good-looking," in 1833, but are best known by their discover's name. E. heterophylla is the original plant and pulcherrima is the hybrid created from it.

Flowering Spurge is described as an upright, smooth to hairy perennial with milky sap. While bearing many small flowers it is rather insignificant in open woods as it gets pushed aside in favor of a more spectacular show. Nevertheless, when time is taken to really look at the plant there will be some great surprises coming. It has a very pleasant odor and its extracts were used as a laxative in pioneer times, a practice which has been discontinued as an overdose was extremely dangerous.

The petal-like bracts of Flowering Spurge are often colored, which renders it a close relative of the Christmas Poinsettia, with showy red bracts surrounding the true flower.

Tread-Softly Nettle needs no explanation...this is one tough little dude that ought to be left alone. Sharp prickles protect this little guy and he means business. If you get to them; however, you will find some of the sweetest and most fragrant flowers imaginable, but use caution because touching this plant also causes a severe rash. It's best to admire it and walk on. Treat-Softly blooms from March to October. Look for in most pine woods, old fields and on undisturbed sites. The Latin, stimulosus, describes the plant as, "One with stinging hairs."

Following is just a few of the magnificent trees/shrubs of the Spurge family that reside in this area. One in particular is highly invasive, but may be kept under control unless a habitat has been specifically created for it -- Chinese Tallow Tree.

Sebastian Bush is no stranger to our swampy woods and it can be found in large stands along any stream bank or flood plain in the Escambia. Aside from a treatment by Dr. S. L. Timme in Wildflowers of Mississippi this deciduous shrub has been virtually ignored. there is scant reference to it in Wade Batson's Wildflowers in the Carolinas; however, his reference is made to Sabastiania ligustrina, which means that it is bushy and laden with small branches. Ligustrina would also indicate it to be similar to the Swamp Privet; waxy leaves, greenish flowers; a small and woody shrub.

Having seen the Sebastian Bush described by Dr. Timme along stream banks in the Escambia and how it favors cutting and trimming, it would obviously be an excellent shrub for use as a border hedge. Too, its autumn leaves are brilliant red and gold; very festive.

A popular ornamental that has a tendency to saturate our swamplands is locally known as "Popcorn Tree." Its true name is Chinese Tallow Tree. Popcorn is widely used for its popular-like leaf that turns red and gold in autumn, and its white waxy seeds, the popcorn, are used as Christmas decorations. The Latin means "to bear wax," referring to a Chinese custom of making candles by boiling the white seeds to remove wax from the white coating. The product is mixed with Bayberry (Wax Myrtle), which also produces a wax when boiled. Bayberry wax renders a cinnamon-like odor and when mixed with Tallow Tree the result is a scented and decorative candle.

The Tung tree has a brilliant history in this country. During WW-II an oil extracted from the tung was used to service aircraft engines. Other uses were in paint thinner and as a furniture polish. Following the war the demand for tung oil lessened and the great orchards were destroyed; replaced with cash crops such as pecan groves or potatoes. The trees didn't fare well in a native environment and soon began to decline for lack of attention, pruning and disease. The Coastal Plain was an ideal place for these medium-sized trees and they flourished. In these times tung oil is still used as a furniture polish and paint thinner but it's no longer grown commercially in North America.

Castor Bean is not only one of our more useful and colorful plants but is one of the deadliest. According to Dr. S. L. Timme of Pittsburg State University, "One seed of this plant can kill a child if swallowed." As noted earlier in this treatment, Spurge family plants range from the smallest weeds to giant trees; from delicious foods to deadly toxic ricin compounds. Quite often the Castor Bean is seen as a cultivated ornamental but in our range it is strictly a deep woods shrub, which, at best, resides on the back of a meadow or around a waste site.

Keeping in mind that this shrub can do great harm it also has some properties that benefit and enhance our daily life. It is that aspect on which this page will concentrate. Traditionally in New World tropics castor oil has been refined as a liniment and a laxative (castor oil). It has also been used as a purgative and for reducing fevers. The liniment, of course, is used to ease sore and aching muscles; castor oil is used in soaps and paint. Hydrogenated castor oil is also used as a lubricant for rocket engines. When North America decided to eradicate the plant Brazil became the largest producer of castor bean products.