Landscape Uses:
	Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also butterfly gardens.
Ecological Restoration Notes:
	Common in pine rocklands in southerm Miami-Dade County; rare elsewhere.
Availability:
	Grown by enthusiasts and occasionally by native plant nurseries. Available in Miami at Pro Native Consulting (786-488-3101).
Description:
	Small shrub. Leaves dark green above and silvery or coppery below.
Height:
	Typically 1-3 feet in height. Often as broad as tall.
Growth Rate:
	Moderate to fast.
Range:
	Monroe County Keys north along the east coast to St. Lucie County, where presumed exirpated in the wild; West Indies. In the Monroe County Keys, apparently disjunct from Miami-Dade County to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key and Little Pine Key.
Habitats:
	Pine rocklands, scrub and coastal thickets.
Soils:
	Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements:
	Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance:
	Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance:
	Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance:
	High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements:
	Full sun.
Flower Color:
	White.
Flower Characteristics:
	Semi-showy.
Flowering Season:
	All year.
Fruit:
	Inconspicuous capsule with yellowish pubescence.
Wildlife and Ecology:
	Sole larval host plant for Bartram's scrub-hairstreak (Strymon acis) and Florida leafwing (Anaea troglodyta floridalis) butterflies in South Florida. Nectar plant for baracoa skipper (Polites baracoa), Bartram's scrub-hairstreak, cassius blue (Leptotes cassius), Florida duskywing (Ephyriades brunneus) and other butterflies.
Horticultural Notes:
	Can be grown from seed or cuttings. Soak seeds in water overnight andd sprinkle into a community pot, scattering a thin layer of soil over the seeds. Place in full sun. For excellent and detailed information on pineland croton propagation, see Fairchild Tropical Garden's Connect To Protect fact sheet.
Comments:
	Recruits readily in the garden from seed, but is not weedy.