Landscape Uses:
	Accent shrub in low coastal areas.
Ecological Restoration Notes:
Availability:
	Native plant nurseries. Available in Homestead at Plant Creations Inc. (305-248-8147).
Description:
	Medium shrub with open, usually somewhat spiny branches. Leaves succulent, dull green, small.
Height:
	About 6-8 feet in height; rarely to 10 feet. About as broad as tall, but with a very open structure.
Growth Rate:
	Moderate.
Range:
	Southeastern United States west to Texas and south to the Monroe County Keys; Cuba and Mexico.
Habitats:
	Coastal berms; margins of mangrove swamps.
Soils:
	Periodically innundated to moist, moderately well-drained to poorly-drained brackish soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements:
	Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance:
	Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt water.
Salt Wind Tolerance:
	Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance:
	Moderate; generally requires moist soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
Light Requirements:
	Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color:
	Lavender to lilac or rarely white.
Flower Characteristics:
	Semi-showy, 3/8" wide.
Flowering Season:
	All year; peak summer-fall.
Fruit:
	Bright red succulent berry. Winter.
Wildlife and Ecology:
	Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. Nectar plant for great southern white (Ascia monuste), gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), and other butterflies, and attracts sphinx moths and bee pollinators. A variety of birds eat the ripe fruit.
Horticultural Notes:
	Can be grown from de-pulped seed and cuttings.
Comments:
	The bright red fruits are very showy. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page.