On April 9th, staff from Duke Energy worked with the Rare Plant Conservation Program for habitat restoration efforts as part of their Duke Energy in Action Workday to give back to the community. The crew introduced 226 native grasses and forbs, along with 35 endangered Florida ziziphus (Pseudoziziphus celata) into the habitat.
Each plant was carefully transplanted at the end of drip lines attached to irrigation lines, which will be used to help them establish until the start of the rainy season.
The work accomplished during this event was a big step in restoring the 20-acre site back into healthy sandhill habitat. Restoration requires that the area be repopulated with native flowering species that provide forage and nectar for many pollinators, and species that provide food for native wildlife such as the Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus).
And, introducing Florida ziziphus into the site helps prevent extinction of one of the rarest plant species in the world.
