I am honored to have been asked to launch the speaker season for the Broward Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society with a presentation on “Fighting Climate Change with Butterflies (and Native Plants)” on Wednesday, September 11th, 2024 from 7:00-8:30 pm. The BCFNPS newsletter below sent out to chapter members gives more information about my talk.
The Manor House at Richardson Historic Park & Nature Preserve
1937 Wilton Dr,
Wilton Manors, FL 33305
After 20 moves around the world in 30 years of marriage, Mary Benton finally put down roots in Miami Shores, Florida. Unexpectedly, those roots sprouted butterflies, and she began to note both the transformative effect that butterflies and the process of metamorphosis had on friends and neighbors, as well as the lack of will in her village to fight climate change.
In her presentation “Fighting Climate Change with Butterflies (and Native Plants)”, she will talk about how she founded Bound by Beauty to open people’s eyes to the beauty and importance of the native flora and fauna we all depend on, and the fun and educational programs Bound by Beauty has created to transform people into nurturers of nature. An artist herself, she incorporates art whenever possible, including a collaboration and a show with watercolor artist and BCFNPS member Kim Heise (whose art can be seen above) entitled “From Weeds to Wildflowers: Transforming Mindsets Through Art”.
Mary will be giving this presentation remotely via Zoom, which will be shown on our projector screen at the meeting. Please join us at our meeting location, The Manor House at Richardson Historic Park & Nature Preserve in Wilton Manors, FL. Please note that parking is free for meeting attendees. We will have parking passes available, so come inside to grab a pass if you do not already have one so you can display it on your dashboard. Light snacks and refreshments will be served. People are welcome to arrive at 6:30 pm to socialize.
If you aren’t already a member, please consider joining the local chapter of your state’s native plant society. Your membership helps them carry out their important mission to promote and preserve native plants through such events as educational talks and field trips. You will learn a lot and no doubt meet kindred spirits who love nature as much as you do.
What do dinosaurs, Native Americans, butterfly caterpillars, early settlers, World War I soldiers and animal crackers have in common? The rather surprising answer is a plant: coontie, to be exact. Coontie is North America’s only native cycad, and it has been around since dinosaurs roamed the earth without evolving much since.
Every part of the coontie contains a potent neurotoxin, yet indigenous people learned to process the root to get rid of the toxin. Who were the brave souls who figured out that if you pound the root and rinse it repeatedly with water, then dry it in the sun, it is transformed from being poisonous to becoming an edible starch with many culinary uses?
The Atala butterfly caterpillar somehow evolved to be able to consume the tough and toxic fronds which confer the toxicity on both the caterpillar and adult butterfly--an enormous benefit if you are a protein-rich snack surrounded by hungry predators. The bright aposematic coloration of both caterpillar and butterfly warns potential predators that eating them is a Very Bad Idea.
Those of us who have coontie and Atalas in our gardens know how quickly the caterpillars can consume the plant. So what’s in it for the coontie? The caterpillar’s droppings provide nutrients which are absorbed by the plant, enabling the decimated plant to regrow in what is called a mutualistic relationship that benefits both caterpillar and plant.
But coontie are very slow to regrow. When settlers arrived in South Florida and learned from indigenous people how to process the roots which became a reliable source of starch, the plant’s slow growth meant it wasn’t feasible to grow them commercially, so the plants were foraged. That might have been fine if settlers had used them solely to feed their families, but some had the bright idea to monetize the starch and to start selling it as ‘Florida arrowroot’.
Florida arrowroot was used to make bread for soldiers in the First World War and even went into the manufacture of animal crackers. For a time, it was the biggest industry on the Miami River. But as more and more coontie were foraged and destroyed -- a process called extirpation -- to make money, they became harder and harder to find...until they seemingly disappeared in the first part of the 20th century.
As the coontie disappeared, so did the butterflies whose caterpillars relied on it as their food source. It wasn’t until 1979 when naturalist Roger Hammer discovered coontie on Virginia Key that had escaped extirpation and -- lo and behold -- the fronds were covered with Atala caterpillars, which everyone thought had been extinct in South Florida for decades. Imagine how exciting that discovery must have been! Over the decades since, Atala caterpillars have made a comeback thanks to gardeners in South Florida who began to plant coontie.
What a great lesson: those of us with gardens in South Florida can help make up for the loss of habitat by planting threatened and endangered species. I became alarmed when I started to research the status of the plants at Brockway's garden and discovered that quite a number are listed as ‘threatened or ‘endangered’ in the wild, mostly due to habitat loss and climate change. Since so many native insects and birds rely on these plants for their sustenance and shelter, they are in danger as well. Since insects form the basis of the food web that humans depend on, we have a wonderful opportunity to help save both the native flora and fauna in our gardens while ensuring a more sustainable future for humankind.
Let's face it: if any one of us was plucked from our comfortable, air-conditioned existence and taken back in time 100 or so years, most of us would find it very difficult to survive life as a settler in the area we now call Miami Shores. The only respite from the heat on hot days was under a shade tree, or in the relatively cool waters of Biscayne Bay. Mosquitoes were often an inescapable torment and, with the Everglades and wet praireland nearby, venomous snakes like rattlers and cottonmouths were a constant threat. Settlers fished, farmed and foraged for foods that we can easily find in any number of nearby stores.
Read Carol Hoffman-Guzman's fascinating history of early farming in the area, and imagine yourselves in the shoes -- or bare feet -- of the early pioneers.
Vegetable and fruit farming has long been an essential aspect of life in the greater Miami Shores area, starting with the Seminole Indians and the later homesteaders in the mid-1800’s. Let’s take a look at the evolving history of gardens, farming and agriculture among the early Miami Shores settlers.
Various history books give hints about the settlers and their gardens. The earliest pioneers often survived on local plants, fish and game gathered from the surrounding environment, as did the prehistoric tribes such as the Calusa and later the Seminoles. Thelma Peters, in her book “Biscayne Country,” suggests that we should think of the Biscayne area as a wooded island surrounded by a grassy, wet prairieland. Many homesteaders soon realized that the wetlands were not decent for long-term homes or gardens, so they settled on the higher wooded area, called the Piney Woods. However, this area was primarily a rocky limestone ridge that didn’t offer much in the way of good soil. Additionally, the available plant life was rather thin – mostly scrub palmettoes, pines, and coontie plants, along with some native “weeds.” In the photo below, you can easily see how sandy the soil was.
Miami Shores settlers from North Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas were mostly poor people from the back country. Seth H. Bramson, in his book “Boulevard of Dreams” about the Biscayne area, states, “The first settlers were essentially subsistence farmers. . .” (see footnote 1). Their focus was on simply growing enough food to feed themselves, their families and occasional visitors. Initially the output was only minimal, with little or no surplus food for trade. These Southerners also knew which native plants were edible, including pokeweed, sorrel, dock and other greens that were good in stews and soups. Huckleberries, wild Muscadine grapes and elderberries also grew in season in some areas in Florida.
Some early homesteaders brought with them plants from their prior gardens: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, celery, eggplants, corn and peppers – some survived, some didn’t. New settlers also brought with them fruit plants and trees from their home states in the Southeast and Midwest. Such fruits included strawberries, oranges, limes, pears, peaches, and oaks with edible nuts. Local and tropical fruit trees were later adopted to their diet. Despite the poor soil, Mrs. Sturtevant, an early settler, wrote in 1875:
"'We will persevere in our pleasant work and have the oranges, lemons, limes, tamarinds, figs, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, sappadillas, alligator pears, Jamaica apples, Japanese plums, sugar apples, guavas, papaws, and dates in readiness for our visitors. Mammee apples and cocoanuts require more time: a few of the latter have attained considerable size and may be expected to fruit in three years, but there are plenty in bearing in our neighborhood'" (see footnote 2).
As Thelma Peters points out, Mr. Sturtevant used to take a handcart to the bay to gather seaweed which he used to mulch his plants (see footnote 3). Given the fertility of their garden, he was clearly on to something by adding organic matter that enriched the soil and kept it moist.
Early settlers gained some information about native plants from their Seminole neighbors, who occasionally canoed up the small waterways to visit and trade with the settlers. The Seminoles showed them how coontie roots could be safely processed to remove a neurotoxin to make starch. They also introduced other plants that were good for food and medicine, including the edible hearts of the local scrub palmettos and the small “Indian pumpkins” that grew in vines up into trees.
Early settlers began to augment their diet of local fish and game by raising chickens, geese, pigs, and cows (mostly for milk). Branded pigs were allowed to run loose and occasionally they interbred with wild hogs brought previously to Florida by the Spanish.
Subsistence farming was indeed the initial emphasis, but “truck farming” for sales to neighbors, outsiders and stores became a later interest. This business eventually became commercialized by families and companies, which purchased acres of land, especially for pineapples, coonties and various fruits that tolerated the sandy soil and dry season. Florida arrowroot starch made from coontie roots was sold locally and at markets in other towns, and was eventually shipped to other parts of the country. Packinghouses also shipped pineapples and other produce through new nearby railroad depots. Common garden plants, including fruit trees, could eventually be purchased from stores in Key West and later in Lemon City – and then be shipped or transported into the Biscayne and Shores areas. Local sawmills opened to harvest the formerly ubiquitous Miami-Dade slash pine in response to a growing need for houses and farm buildings.
Joe Blair, who arrived in the area in 1928 to escape cold winters up north, opened a business selling fertilizer and livestock feed to farmers in the area (see footnote 4). Although tillers and livestock feed have long since been replaced by lawn mowers and leaf blowers, Joe Blair's is still open on 79th Street. Later, in 1949, Mercer's Seed Company opened in downtown Miami Shores, and quickly became a favorite gathering place for residents of the Shores who were interested in growing fruit and vegetables, and in landscaping their property.
Over time, as a community develops and increases in size, various farming practices and customs change. While vegetable and fruit gardening has long been a component of living in Miami Shores, many of us today are almost completely cut off from the nature upon which the early settlers' lives depended. Our farming roots were further severed by changes to the landscape code that forbade the planting of vegetables in front yards, thereby depriving some residents of the ability to grow their own food. One current case, in which a resident is suing the village of Miami Shores over this part of the landscape code, is under appeal, and oral arguments are scheduled for August 21, 2017 (see footnote 5).
Carol Hoffman-Guzman, PhD
Our village is certain to face many difficulties in the years ahead, with climate change and rising seas. The early settlers can teach us valuable lessons about resiliency under difficult conditions. Perhaps it is time to examine more closely the idea of coming full circle, and creating urban farms in the Shores. Mary Benton, Founding Director, Bound by Beauty
1. Seth Bramson, Boulevard of Dreams, A Pictorial History of El Portal, Biscayne Park, Miami Shores and North Miami (Charleston, SC: The History Press), 11.
2. Thelma Peters, Biscayne Country 1870-1926 (Miami, FL: Banyan Books, Inc. 1981), 12.
3. Peters, Biscayne Country, 12.
4. Erik Bojnansky, "Restoration Road: Once a seedy and dangerous thoroughfare, Miami's 79th Street is looking up." Biscayne Times, Vol. 16, Issue 6 (August 2017): 22-37.
5. In August 2016, a local judge found that, "the prohibition of vegetable gardens except in backyards is rationally related to Miami Shores' legitimate interest in promoting and maintaining aesthetics,” and the Village’s decision to prohibit such plantings, therefore, "passes constitutional scrutiny."
Mad dogs, Englishmen, and, apparently, members of Bound by Beauty are out in the midday sun. You can see from our rosy cheeks and noses, not to mention the glistening sweat, that we worked hard today to prepare the bed for the planting of the pine rockland plants on Saturday. Lucky for us, we love doing what we do!
So what did we do? We removed the plastic tarp that was solarizing the bed, then started sculpting a pine rockland, using coral rocks donated by members of the community. We just may have created the highest point in Miami Shores!
Then, we took the plants donated by Fairchild Garden's Protect to Connect Network and other generous folks, and placed them in a mockup of the garden to come. We thought it looked pretty good!
Last, but not least, we took the potted plants to the shade, where they will await the moment when their roots can stretch out into the soil.
Come join us on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Miami Shores Community Church for the planting and a celebration of Miami Shores' Community Garden. Bring your lawn chairs and favorite beverages, and join your neighbors in the relative cool of a summer evening. We look forward to seeing lots of friends and neighbors!
Bound by Beauty had a wonderful time at the Unity Day Fair in Miami Shores. Our booth featured a Monarch tower bedecked with Monarch chrysalises, and we even watched a couple of caterpillars pupate, which is always a thrilling sight. Jill Leslie captured the remarkable process with her cell phone.
Bound by Beauty also had on hand a Pollinator Pledge, which a number of fair goers signed to protect our precious pollinators from the widespread use of pesticides.
Those who signed got a butterfly named for them on our wall. 
We offered a petition in support of a farmers' market in Miami Shores, and another in support of a ban on pesticides in public spaces. There was also a signup sheet for neighbors who are interested in participating in the creation of a community butterfly/healing garden at the Miami Shores Community Church. Many thanks to all who signed!
Most of all, we enjoyed meeting our neighbors on a beautiful day in South Florida. Thank you Jen, Susan, Wendy, Jill, Doug, Roly, Ed, Salomon, Mike, Pete for setting up an awesome booth and being part of this lovely and meaningful day.
