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

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations; also wildflower and butterfly gardens. For the pine rocklands species, see Chiococca pinetorum.

Ecological Restoration Notes: This short vining form of Chiococcais relatively common in rockland hammocks in the Florida Keys, and in thickets and hammock edges in the Big Cypress Swamp.

Availability: Grown by enthusiasts.

Description: Woody groundcover or clambering vinelike shrub. Stems green or purplish. Leaves thick, stiff and shining.

Dimensions: A clambering shrub with arching stems 3-6 feet or sometimes more in length, climbing into other vegetation.

Growth Rate: Moderate.

Range: Monroe County Keys north to Palm Beach and Charlotte counties; West Indies. In the Monroe County Keys, very rare or absent in the middle Keys. In SOuth Florida, very rare and scattered north of the Miami River and west of the Big Cypress Swamp.

 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: Thickets and edges of hammocks.

Soils: Moist, well-drained limestone soils, with or without humusy top layer.

Nutritional Requirements: Moderate to low; it prefers soils with organic content, but will still grow reasonably well in nutrient poor soils.

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 to high; plants growing in extremely dry soils may die during extended periods of drought.

Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.

Flower Color: White turning to yellow or purplish-white.

Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy.

Flowering Season: All year.

Fruit: Attractive white to purplish, drupelike berry.

Wildlife and Ecology: Nectar plant for julia (Dryas iulia) and other butterflies.

Horticultural Notes: Grown from seed. Remove pulp from seeds and place in pot with 2" or more of soil. Barely cover seeds with soil. Place in light shade or full sun and keep moist.

References: EDIS (UF)