General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower gardens.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Medium to large herbaceous wildflower.
Dimensions: About 1-2 feet in height; to 4 feet when in flower. As broad as tall except when in flower.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Widespread in eastern and central North America west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade and Collier counties. Presumed extirpated in Miami-Dade County. Very rare or extirpated in Broward County; collected twice west of Deerfield Beach and last reported from the Indian Trace Water Management Basin in 1989. Not documented on barrier islands in South Florida, but possibly historically present; it grows well at
Pan’s Garden in Palm Beach.
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: Wet pinelands.
Soils: Wet to moist, seasonally inundated sandy or calcareous soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
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: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Greenish.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: Summer.
Fruit: A pair of inconspicuous carpels pendent from a supporting axis.
Wildlife and Ecology: Attracts native bees and other beneficial insects.
Comments: See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
