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

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.

Availability: Grown by enthusiasts. Available in Lake Worth at Amelia's SmartyPlants (561-540-6296).

Description: Small to medium creeping wildflower.

Dimensions: About 6-18 inches in height, sometimes more. Spreading and forming large open or dense patches.

Growth Rate: Moderate.

Range: Miami-Dade and Broward counties; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and northern South America.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

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

Habitats: Wet prairies.

Soils: Wet to moist, moderately well-drained to poorly drained limestone soils, without humus.

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

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

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

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

Light Requirements: Full sun.

Flower Color: Purplish.

Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy.

Flowering Season: All year.

Fruit: An inconspicuous aggregate of 4 nutlets.

Wildlife and Ecology: Possible larval host plant for common buckeye (Junonia coenia), phaon crescent (Phyciodes phaon) and white peacock (Anartia jatrophae) butterflies. Possible nectar plant for barred yellow (Eurema daira), ceraunus blue (Hemiargus ceraunus), field skipper (Atalopedes campestris), gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus), little metalmark (Calephelis virginiensis), Palatka skipper (Euphyes pilatka), phaon crescent, queen (Danaus gilippus), swarthy skipper (Nastra lherminier), tropical checkered-skipper (Pyrgus oileus) and other butterflies.

Horticultural Notes: Easily grown from cuttings.

Comments: It is listed as endangered by the state of Florida.