General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A somewhat weedy understory herb in pine rocklands.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Small creeping herb.
Dimensions: About 2-4 inches in height. Spreading across the ground and forming small patches.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Monroe County Keys and Miami-Dade County; West Indies. Also collected once Palm Beach County (Lantana). In Miami-Dade County, not native north of the Miami River. In the Monroe County Keys, apparently disjunct from Miami-Dade County and North Key Largo to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key; also collected in Key West in the mid 1800s.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Pine rocklands.
Soils: Moist, well-drained limestone soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
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: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Red.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: All year.
Fruit: Inconspicuous warty capsule.
