Low climbing herbaceous vine with extremely variable leaves.
Dimensions:
N/A; a vine with stems to 2 feet or more in length. Sometimes spreading horizontally and forming large open or dense patches.
Growth Rate:
Fast.
Range:
Monroe County Keys north to Duval, Lake and Dixie counties; West Indies, Texas, Mexico, Central America and South America.
Habitats:
Moist forests and pinelands.
Soils:
Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements:
Moderate to low; it prefers soils with organic content, but will still grow reasonably well in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance:
Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance:
High; can tolerate moderate amounts of salt wind without injury.
Drought Tolerance:
High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements:
Light shade to full sun.
Flower Color:
Greenish to yellowish.
Flower Characteristics:
Semi-showy but small. Petals are absent.
Flowering Season:
All year.
Fruit:
Purple-black globose berry. Edible.
Wildlife and Ecology:
Larval host plant for gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), julia (Dryas iulia) and zebra longwing (Heliconius charitonius) butterflies.
Horticultural Notes:
Can be grown from seed. Smash mature fruit on paper towel or place in blender with water and grind just enough to break up the berries; strain and place on paper towel. When dry, scrape seed onto surface of soil. Do not cover. Place containter in light shade.
Comments:
One of the best larval host plants for butterflies.
Gann, G.D., M.E. Abdo, J.W. Gann, G.D. Gann, Sr., S.W.
Woodmansee, K.A. Bradley, E. Verdon and K.N. Hines. 2005-2008. Natives For Your Neighborhood. http://www.regionalconservation.org.
The Institute for Regional Conservation, Miami.