General Landscape Uses:
Accent or specimen or shade tree in residential and commercial landscapes.
Availability:
Widely cultivated. Available in Lake Worth at
Indian Trails Native Nursery, and in Key West at
Key West Botanical Garden.
Description: Medium to large tree with a rounded crown. Trunks erect, straight, to 20 inches in diameter. Bark light brown to brownish-gray, smooth when young, then becoming rough. Leaves compound, 6-16 inches long, shiny, orangish or reddish when young.
Dimensions: Typically 30-50 feet in height; to 63 feet in South Florida. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Slow to moderate.
Range:
Monroe County Keys north mostly along the coasts to Brevard and Collier counties; West Indies, southern Mexico, Central America. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website. Little's map fails to capture a number of locations for this in the interior of Big Cypress National Preserve in Collier County and the Monroe County mainland.
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: Yellow to creamy white.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous. Dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants.
Flowering Season: Winter-spring.
Fruit: Bright red drupe turning black when mature.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from de-pulped seed. Plant right away; the seeds do not store well. Stake plants when trasplanting as root development usually lags behind aboveground development.
References: Hammer 2004
Comments: The new growth is an attractive color of red.
