Natural History
Study site. The primary study site was the Deering Estate, part of the Metro-Dade Park system, in Miami, Fl. I monitored about 20 blackbead plants growing along the shoulders of a roadway through a coastal pine rockland/oak hammock established on Miami oolitic limestone. Average temperatures in Miami range between 10 and 32°C (Tomlinson 1980), with an annual average of ~23°C (Migliaccio 1987). Rainfall averages ~1500 mm per year, with about 70% of the annual precipitation occurring during the May-to-October rainy season (Migliaccio 1987).