General Landscape Uses:
Shrub or small tree.
Ecological Restoration Notes: Streambank stabilization or wetland restoration.
Availability:
Rarely grown by native plant nurseries in northern Florida.
Description: Shrub or small tree up to 25 feet. Crooked trunk. Leaves 2-4 inches long. Likely to colonize to form a thicket.
Dimensions: Up to 25 feet in height.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Eastern North America south to St. Johns, Putnam, and Alachua counties. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Open, wet hammocks and pond margins.
Soils: Moist to rarely innundated, well-drained to moderately well-drained limestone or sandy soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: Moderate; generally requires moist soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
Light Requirements: Light shade to full sun.
Flower Color: Yellow
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous flowers on conspicuous 2-3 inch long catkins.
Flowering Season: Winter and early spring.
Fruit: Reminiscent of a tiny pinecone, less than 1/2 inch long.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides food for birds.
Horticultural Notes: Nitrogen-fixing.
References: Wunderlin and Hansen (
2011), Wasowski (
2010), Ne
Comments: We have been adding data for this species for central and northern Florida and welcome any feedback or review. If you would like to contribute information or images, please contact George Gann via the IRC staff page.
