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Okenia hypogaea
in patches of ground cover low to the ground, trailing stems and leaves a little fuzzy. bright purple flowers about 1in or less in diameter.
Beach sand dunes. Native to Southeastern FL and Southern Mexico.
This plant is found in patches along the dunes of the Bear Cut Preserve of Crandon Park beach in Key Biscayne, FL. I've never noticed this beach plant before in other area beaches. I can't find it online or in any of my reference books. Any search for vines or ground covers in FL beaches with purple flowers normally yields Railroad Vine or other morning glories which this doesn't seem to be. UPDATE: 11/23/15 - Wrote to Biscayne Nature Center on Facebook and they provided an ID. Rare endangered species in FL
Spotted on Jul 25, 2014
Submitted on Jul 27, 2014
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