Sweetscent
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Pluchea odorata
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Asteraceae
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Landscape Uses:
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Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wet wildflower and butterfly gardens. |
Ecological Restoration Notes: |
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Availability: |
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Grown by enthusiasts. |
Description: |
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Small to medium herbaceous wildflower. |
Height: |
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1-4 feet in height. Taller than broad. |
Growth Rate: |
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Moderate to fast. |
Range: |
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Southern United States south to the Monroe County Keys; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America. Rare in the Monroe County Keys and perhaps absent in the middle Keys. |
Habitats: |
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Marshes and swamps. |
Soils: |
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Wet to moist, moderately well-drained to periodically inundated sandy, limestone, or organic soils, with or without humusy top layer. |
Nutritional Requirements: |
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Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive. |
Salt Water Tolerance: |
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Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt water. |
Salt Wind Tolerance: |
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Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation. |
Drought Tolerance: |
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Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought. |
Light Requirements: |
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Full sun. |
Flower Color: |
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Pink. |
Flower Characteristics: |
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Semi-showy flowering heads. |
Flowering Season: |
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All year; peak summer-fall. |
Fruit: |
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Inconspicuous brownish achene. All year. |
Wildlife and Ecology: |
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Nectar plant for Florida duskywing (Ephyriades brunneus), hammock skipper (Polygonus leo), long-tailed skipper (Urbanus proteus), mangrove skipper (Phocides pigmalion), monk skipper (Asbolis capucinus) and other butterflies. |
Horticultural Notes: |
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Can be grown from seed. |
Comments: |
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This is an excellent butterfly attractant. The leaves and flowers are extremely fragrant. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page. See a 2019 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog on dominant mudflat species including sweetscent. |
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