Florida coastal indigo
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Indigofera miniata var. florida
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Fabaceae
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Landscape Uses:
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Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower and rock gardens. |
Ecological Restoration Notes: |
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It can be used as one of many understory herbs in pine rocklands. It seems to prefer weedy conditions and will spread from seed in pine rockland creations. |
Availability: |
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Grown by enthusiasts. |
Description: |
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Small herbaceous wildflower. |
Height: |
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About 1-3 inches in height. Spreading and forming large, open patches. |
Growth Rate: |
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Fast. |
Range: |
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Endemic to Florida from the Monroe County Keys north to Alachua and Levy counties. In South Florida, very rare outside of Monroe and Miami-Dade counties; perhaps never present or extirpated in Broward County; in Palm Beach County, known only from the Juno Dunes area; apparently absent elsewhere. Also very rare or absent in the upper and middle Florida Keys. |
Habitats: |
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Pinelands and open disturbed sites. |
Soils: |
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Moist, well-drained limestone or sandy soils, without humus. |
Nutritional Requirements: |
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Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils. |
Salt Water Tolerance: |
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Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water. |
Salt Wind Tolerance: |
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Low; salt wind may burn the leaves. |
Drought Tolerance: |
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High; does not require any supplemental water once established. |
Light Requirements: |
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Full sun. |
Flower Color: |
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Pink. |
Flower Characteristics: |
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Semi-showy. |
Flowering Season: |
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All year. |
Fruit: |
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Small pod (legume). |
Wildlife and Ecology: |
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Horticultural Notes: |
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Can be grown from seed. |
Comments: |
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Spreads from seed in the garden and prefers open, disturbed areas, but is not really weedy. |
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