UF/IFAS Okeechobee County Extension Service

UF/IFAS Okeechobee County Extension Service

458 Highway 98 North

Okeechobee, FL 34972-2578

Phone: (863) 763-6469

E- mail:  dfculbert@ifas.ufl.edu

November 18, 2004

Feature Article - for release the week of November 21, 2004

Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent

 Turkeys Are not Always Birds

 Thanksgiving is upon us, and turkey will be the centerpiece of many family conversations around the dinner tables this week.  While many University of Florida Extension agents will be writing or talking about the big bird that will be broasted or fried throughout our area, my training is not in family and consumer science.

Instead, I offer a few other “turkey connections” to ponder while celebrating this holiday and giving thanks to the many blessings we have to appreciate in this challenging year.  

 A favorite butterfly food is found in many local landscapes that is most commonly know as matchweed.  Did you know that this creeping herb may also be called turkey tangle fogfruit .  And if this weed is found among your blades of grass, you may be thanked with a visit from a beautiful fall-colored butterfly known as the mat plant crescent butterfly  .  Turkey tangle fogfruit is the favorite Florida food plant  of the larval caterpillar of this butterfly.  For more about this relationship, request a copy of our Featured Creatures article on this butterfly.   

A secondary name to a pesky biting fly that exploded during the El Nino year of 1988 is the turkey gnat, better know as the black fly.   The larvae feed on organic materials in wet swampy areas, however, the adult females need a blood meal to complete their life cycle.  This is a turkey we can do without.

 A more well know Florida turkey may be seen by those visiting the scrubby woods in Florida while hunting or hiking during the holiday.  One of the dominant oak trees of Florida scrub habitat is called the Turkey Oak, Quercus laevis.  The common name of this fast growing deciduous tree comes from the shape of its leaf, which resembles the shape of a turkey’s foot.   Turkey Oaks are not adapted to much of the area around Okeechobee with the exception of a few of the higher, dryer scrub areas in the north eastern areas of the county.   In nearby Highlands County on the ridge areas, turkey oaks are quite common.

An unwanted visitor to Florida is known as turkey berry.  This member of the nightshade family looks a bit like the dreaded tropical soda apple, but it only has prickled clusters on the stems with  clusters of small yellow  berries.  Solanum torvum is the botanical name of this tropical import from Guatemala, which has escaped and spread in some areas of Florida.    .

Getting back to a more desirable point  of reference, one ok the more desirable varieties of edible figs that is recommended for dooryard fruit planting is known as the Brown Turkey.    It has a moderately sized fruit of bronze color with medium eye opening. They ripen in late July through late fall and will fruit following severe freeze damage.

I’m sure that your appetite has now been built up the breaking point, but before we introduce our main course, I would note that a familiar fowl that flies high in  our Florida skies is a large bird know as the turkey vulture.   Up close and personal is not where we want to be with these fowl feathered friends, but indeed they play a valuable role in cleaning up dead animals in fields, forests, and rights of way.

And in case you thought the main course would never arrive, I’d suspect that most people in our area have seen flocks of our native Florida wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo sceola.   This subspecies found only in our state’s  pine flatwoods or mixed hardwood forest habitats – the places where you will probably see the turkey oak.  Their numbers dropped rapidly until restocking began 1948, and this subspecies recovered nicely by 1970's. The eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) can also be found in the Sunshine state. 

Whether you are a naturalized citizen of a certain Asian country that is north of Iraq, or are a full blooded American citizen, our Extension Service wishes you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.   If you need additional information on any of these turkeys, call or stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North.  Our phone number is 763-6469, and you can email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu

Trade names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. Florida Cooperative Extension Service / IFAS /University of Florida. Larry Arrington, Dean.  Last update: 11/22/2004 .  This page is maintained by Dan Culbert