General Landscape Uses:
Specimen plant, natural hedge.
Availability:
Rarely grown by native plant nurseries in northeast and central Florida.
Description: Deciduous shrub or small tree up to 30 feet. The trunk and branches are armed with stout spines. Large compound leaves 1-4 feet long with 1-4 inch leaflets. Small, whitish flowers in a cluster up to 3 feet long.
Dimensions: Up to 30 feet in height.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Eastern United States south to Volusia, Osceola, Polk, and Hillsborough 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.
Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Moist forests.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone 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: 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: Light shade to full sun.
Flower Color: Greenish white
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: June-July.
Fruit: Rounded, purplish black drupe.
Horticultural Notes: Spiny. Eventually forms a thicket.
References: Mellichamp (
2014), Taylor 1998
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.
