General Landscape Uses:
Accent or specimen tree.
Ecological Restoration Notes: Not recommended for habitat restoration projects. Already over planted within its native range.
Availability:
Native plant nurseries.
Description: Small tree or shrub. Usually taller than broad.
Dimensions: Typically 10-25 feet in height. Usually taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Miami-Dade and Monroe counties; the West Indies, southern Mexico and Central America. In South Florida, native only to the Florida Keys and the extreme southern mainland, mostly in Everglades National Park. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website.
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: Hammock edges.
Soils: Moist, well-drained limestone or calcareous sandy soils, with 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 long-term 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: Orange.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Summer-fall.
Fruit: White fleshy drupe.
Wildlife and Ecology: Nectar plant for large orange sulpher (Phoebis agarithe), Schaus' swallowtail (Papilio aristodemius ponceasus) and other butterflies.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
References: Hammer 2004, Nelson 2003
Comments: Widely cultivated outside its native range in South Florida and sometimes naturalizing.
