Landscape Uses:
	Thorny barriers. This can be very aggressive and is not recommended for general landscape use.
Ecological Restoration Notes:
	This is a common element of coastal strand and the edges of maritime hammocks, but more often than not it needs to be controlled at disturbed sites undergoing restoration.
Availability:
	Rarely grown by native plant nurseries.
Description:
	A clambering vine with spiny stems and prickly leaves.
Height:
	N/A; a clambering vine with stems to 25 feet.
Growth Rate:
	Fast to moderate.
Range:
	Monroe County Keys north along the coasts to Volusia and Levy counties; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America, Old World.
Habitats:
	Coastal uplands.
Soils:
	Moist sands or limestone to occasionally inundated brackish soils, with or without a humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements:
	Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance:
	Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt water.
Salt Wind Tolerance:
	Secondary line; tolerates significant salt wind without injury, but usually is somewhat protected.
Drought Tolerance:
	High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements:
	Full sun.
Flower Color:
	Yellowish-brown.
Flower Characteristics:
	Semi-showy compund racemes; the flowers are fragrant.
Flowering Season:
	All year; peak spring-summer.
Fruit:
	Reddish-brown prickly pod (legume) containing gray seeds.
Wildlife and Ecology:
	Larval host plant for Miami blue (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri) and nickerbean blue (Hemiargus ammon) butterflies.
Horticultural Notes:
	Can be grown from seed.
Comments:
	See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page.