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

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also moist to wet wildflower and butterfly gardens.

Availability: Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.

Description: Medium herbaceous wildflower.

Dimensions: Typically 1-2 feet in height. Usually taller than broad, but sometimes falling over and forming small patches.

Growth Rate: Fast.

Range: Eastern and southern United States west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland; Cuba. Naturalized in New York and Ontario.

 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: Marshes and swamps.

Soils: Moist to wet, moderately well-drained to poorly-drained sandy, calcareous or organic soils, with or without 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 flooding by salt or brackish water.

Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.

Drought Tolerance: Moderate to low; requires moist to wet soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.

Light Requirements: Light shade to full sun.

Flower Color: Bluish-pink.

Flower Characteristics: Showy.

Flowering Season: Summer-fall.

Fruit: Inconspicuous achene.

Wildlife and Ecology: Nectar plant for obscure skipper (Panoquina panoquinoides), salt marsh skipper (Panoquina panoquin), southern broken-dash (Wallengrenia otho), three-spotted skipper (Cymaenes tripunctus) and other butterflies. Attracts bee pollinators.

Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.

References: Floridata.com

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