Natives For Your Neighborhood
Conservation of rare plants, animals, and ecosystems

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also as a groundcover in water gardens and along pond and lake edges.

Ecological Restoration Notes: A relatively common element of a wide variety of freshwater wetlands. Somewhat weedy and will recruit often into restoration sites.

Availability: Grown by several native plant nurseries. Available in Sanibel at Captiva Conservation Foundation.

Description: Small creeping wildflower.

Dimensions: Typically 2-4 inches in height or less. Spreading and forming large patches.

Growth Rate: Moderate to fast.

Range: Southeastern United States south to the Monroe County Keys; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Rare in the Monroe County Keys.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

 Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.

 Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.

Habitats: Freshwater and brackish marshes and wet disturbed sites.

Soils: Wet to moist, moderately well-drained to poorly-drained freshwater or brackish soils.

Nutritional Requirements: Moderate to low; it prefers soils with organic content, but will still grow reasonably well in nutrient poor soils.

Salt Water Tolerance: Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt water.

Salt Wind Tolerance: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.

Drought Tolerance: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.

Light Requirements: Full sun.

Flower Color: White to pinkish-white.

Flower Characteristics: Showy.

Flowering Season: All year.

Fruit: Inconspicuous capsule. All year.

Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for white peacock (Anartia jatrophae) butterflies. Attracts bee pollinators.

Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from cuttings, division and seed.

References: Miami-Dade County Landscape Manual (2005).

Comments: An excellent low groundcover in wet places, and can spread readily in some circumstances. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page.