Landscape Uses:
	Accent or specimen shrub along the coast.
Ecological Restoration Notes:
Availability:
	Commonly available at native plant nurseries in central and South Florida.  Available in Lake Worth at Indian Trails Native Nursery , Amelia's SmartyPlants, and in Key West at Key West Botanical Garden.
Description:
	Medium to large shrub or rarely a small tree with a conical crown. Trunks short, bearing many erect to ascending slender branches. Bark brown to dark gray, shaggy, stipping off to show light yellow inner bark. Leaves fine-textured, thick, fleshy, hairy on both sides, about 1-1 1/2 inches long.
Height:
	Typically 6-10 feet in height. About as broad as tall or broader.
Growth Rate:
	Moderate.
Range:
	Monroe County Keys north along the coasts to Brevard, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Old World tropics. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website.
Habitats:
	Coastal thickets.
Soils:
	Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, usually without humusy top layer but with persistant leaf litter.
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:
	Frontline; grows in direct salt wind but away from constant salt spray.
Drought Tolerance:
	High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements:
	Full sun.
Flower Color:
	Yellow.
Flower Characteristics:
	Semi-showy, about 1/4" wide.
Flowering Season:
	All year.
Fruit:
	Inconspicuous reddish-brown dry carpel. All year.
Wildlife and Ecology:
	Larval host plant for mallow scrub-hairstreak (Strymon istapa) and martial scrub-hairstreak (Strymon martialis) butterflies. Nectar plant for great southern white (Ascia monuste), julia (Dryas iulia), martial scrub-hairsteak, Miami blue (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri), obscure skipper (Panoquina panoquinoides) and other butterflies.
Horticultural Notes:
	Can be grown from seed.
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