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Copyright by: Michelle Hayden In habitat, Eleuthera, Bahamas, 2013
General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower and butterfly gardens.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A relatively common element of pinelands and open, coastal uplands.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Trailing or twining vine with delicate stems.
Dimensions: N/A; a vine with stems to 6 feet or more in length, but often shorter. Sometimes spreads and forms small open patches.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Central and southern United States west to Texas and south to the Monroe County Keys; West Indies, southern Mexico, Central America and South America. In the Monroe County Keys, apparently disjunct from Miami-Dade County to Bahia Honda and the lower Keys; also reported for Windley Key, where perhaps introduced.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Low to moderate; it can grow in nutrient poor soils or soils with some organic content.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: High; can tolerate moderate amounts of salt wind without significant injury.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color: Purplish lavender to nearly white, about 1" long.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: All year; peak summer-fall.
Fruit: Flat pod (legume).
Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for long-tailed skipper (Urbanus proteus) and northern cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) butterflies. Attracts bee pollinators.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed. The pods will open and eject the seeds when completely ripe, so collect pods when mature and store in a paper bag until they open.
References: Hammer 2004
Comments: Forms in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties have narrow leaflets, and are segregated by some authors as C. angustifolia; forms to the north and west have broad leaflets. Appropriate sources of material should be used. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page.
Copyright by: Michelle Hayden In habitat, Eleuthera, Bahamas, 2013
Copyright by: Michelle Hayden In habitat, Eleuthera, Bahamas, 2013
Copyright by: George D. Gann in habitat, Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2013
Copyright by: Shirley Denton
Copyright by: George D. Gann
Copyright by: Roger L. Hammer
Copyright by: Rosimar Rivera
Other data on Centrosema virginianum available from: