This endangered flower only grows in South Florida. Here's where and when you can find it
There's an endangered species of flower that's grown only on South Florida shrubs for around a century.
The rare four-petal pawpaw flower in Martin County and Palm Beach County and has never grown in abundance, but there are now about 22% less four-petal pawpaws than there were 14 years ago in 2009.
The plant was listed as federally endangered in 1986 and there are now 1,400 four-petal pawpaw plants left in the wild.
A 1988 survey found only around 900 endangered pawpaw plants in 16 natural areas throughout the Palm Beaches and Martin County. Conservation efforts brought that number up to 1,800 plants in 21 different places between Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast in 2009. Since then, an estimated 400 plants have been lost to real estate development.
Here's what the four-petal pawpaw flower is, when it blooms and where you can find them.
Conservation experts explain: The last of the four-petal pawpaw plants are in South Florida and need help to survive
Are four-petal pawpaws edible?
The fruit that the four-petal pawpaw flower produces is a favorite snack of gopher tortoises and small mammals, like mice. But you may not want to eat it after you smell it. Some say it can faintly smell of root beer, but most often smells like rotting bananas.
The four-petal pawpaw flower grows on shrubs with upright, woody stems that stay bare in the winter and produce bright green leaves in the spring. The shrubs can grow up to 10 feet tall and are a member of the custard apple family.
The four-petal flowers have a cream-colored outside and a deep red center, which differentiates them from other pawpaw plants' flowers. Beetles are the biggest contributors in pollinating this rare flower, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service, and the plant is also known to host zebra swallowtail butterflies.
The fruit that follows the bloom of the four-petal pawpaw flower, called monocarpals, often have an unpleasant, rotten smell and look like small berries. One pawpaw flower can produce up to eight monocarpals.
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Where is the four-petal pawpaw's habitat?
The four-petal pawpaw has only been recorded to exist in the sand pine scrub that grows along old dune ridges in Palm Beach County and Martin County. The flowers' peak blooming season runs from roughly February through the summer and peaks from May through June.
In Palm Beach County, you can spot the four-petal pawpaw blooming along one of the two preserved hiking trails at Juno Dunes Natural Area in Juno Beach. The pawpaw blooms can be found on the Juno Dunes West trail.
Just an 18-minute drive North will bring you to another place populated with pawpaws in Martin County. Jonathan Dickinson State Park has around 100 four-petal pawpaw plants throughout its 10,500 acres.
Why is the four-petal pawpaw endangered?
Other than the fact that the plant is picky when it comes to habitat, there are three main reasons why the four-petal pawpaw shrub and its flowers are endangered.
Real estate development: A huge chunk of the already-few four-petal pawpaw plants were growing on private lands that have been developed in the last few decades. Only the plants that are in natural, preserved areas have the best chance of survival.
Lack of habitat protection: Going hand-in-hand with the first reason, the four-petal pawpaw's existence has been threatened by a lack in protection of its habitat. Aside from growing in the wild on dune ridges in Juno Beach and Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the only conservation efforts for the four-petal pawpaw are ongoing at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida. and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. Bok Tower Gardens hosts a living collection of four-petal pawpaws and Cincinnati's botanical garden conducts propagation research with tissue cultures from the plant.
Not enough fire: Strangely, this plant doesn't just survive harsh conditions like wildfires, it needs them to thrive. Lack of controlled burning can threaten the four-petal pawpaw's population. The plant has adapted to being burned and grows best when there isn't a tree canopy casting too much shade from above. Its tough and deep taproot allows it to survive and thrive in the presence of fire. Four-petal pawpaw shrubs actually produce more fruit and flowers after controlled burns.
What can we do to save the plants? How to help
Ongoing conservation efforts are working to protect the future of this endangered plant, including propagation efforts at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and a demographic study being conducted on over 150 four-petal pawpaw shrubs at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
You can actually sponsor a rare plant, like the four-petal pawpaw, by donating to The Center for Plant Conservation and designating which plant to help.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: You can only find this rare flower in South Florida. Here's where
