General Landscape Uses:
Specimen or shade tree in residential and commercial landscapes.
Availability:
Native plant nurseries. Available in Melbourne at
Native Butterfly Flowers .
Description: Medium to large tree with an irregular, rounded crown. Trunks large, erect, buttressed at the base, to 3 feet in diameter. Bark brown to gray brown or reddish-brown, thick, broken into thick plates exposing inner bark. Leaves glossy, dark green to yellowish-green with a wavy margin, 2-6 inches long.
Dimensions: Typically 30-60 feet in height; to 118 feet in South Florida. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Monroe County Keys north, mostly along the coasts, to Volusia and Manatee counties; West Indies and Mexico. Very rare in the middle and lower Monroe County Keys. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website.
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: Hammocks.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
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 significant injury.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Greenish-yellow.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous but foul-smelling.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall; peak in summer.
Fruit: Yellow-orange berry, about 1" long. Edible. Winter-summer.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. pollinators
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
References: Hammer 2004, Nelson 2003, Schaefer & Tanner 1997
Comments: The fruits are edible raw, but the latex is very sticky. The wood is used for ship building in the West Indies.
