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

General Landscape Uses: Wildflower and rock gardens.

Ecological Restoration Notes: Fairly common in pinelands on the Miami Rock Ridge; rarer elsewhere.

Availability: Grown by enthusiasts and occasionally by native plant nurseries. Available at Indian Trails Native Nursery in Lake Worth (561-641-9488).

Description: Small fine textured wildflower.

Dimensions: About 4-8 inches in height. Often taller than wide, but spreading and forming small open patches.

Growth Rate: Moderate.

Range: Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Collier counties, then rare and scattered to the north in Lee, Highlands, Polk, Hernando and Wakulla counties; Bahamas. In the Monroe County Keys, disjunct from Miami-Dade County to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key.

 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: Pinelands and prairies.

Soils: Moist, well-drained limestone or sandy soils, without humus.

Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.

Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.

Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.

Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.

Light Requirements: Full sun.

Flower Color: Blue or purple.

Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy, 1/4" wide..

Flowering Season: All year.

Fruit: Inconspicuous capsule.

Wildlife and Ecology: Possible larval host plant for common buckeye (Junonia coenia) butterflies, which utilized the closely related D. oblongifolia.

Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.

References: Hammer 2004