Natives For Your Neighborhood
Conservation of rare plants, animals, and ecosystems

General Landscape Uses: Thorny barriers. This can be very aggressive and is not recommended for general landscape use.

Ecological Restoration Notes: This is a common element of coastal strand and the edges of maritime hammocks, but more often than not it needs to be controlled at disturbed sites undergoing restoration.

Availability: Rarely grown by enthusiasts.

Description: A clambering vine with spiny stems and prickly leaves.

Dimensions: N/A; a clambering vine with stems to 25 feet.

Growth Rate: Fast to moderate.

Range: Monroe County Keys north along the coasts to Volusia and Levy counties; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America, Old World.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

Habitats: Coastal uplands.

Soils: Moist sands or limestone to occasionally inundated brackish soils, with or without a humusy top layer.

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: Secondary line; tolerates significant salt wind without injury, but usually is somewhat protected.

Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.

Light Requirements: Full sun.

Flower Color: Yellowish-brown.

Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy compund racemes; the flowers are fragrant.

Flowering Season: All year; peak spring-summer.

Fruit: Reddish-brown prickly pod (legume) containing gray seeds.

Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for Miami blue (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri) and nickerbean blue (Hemiargus ammon) butterflies.

Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.

References: Hammer 2004

Comments: See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page.