General Landscape Uses:
Wildflower gardens.
Availability:
Native plant nurseries. Available in Naples at
Everglades Native Designs , and in Key West at
Key West Botanical Garden .
Description: Small to medium herb with narrow leaves and attractive heads of yellow flowers.
Dimensions: About 1-2 feet in height. Spreading and forming mounds broader than tall.
Growth Rate: Moderate to fast.
Range:
Monroe County Keys north to Flagler, Taylor and Franklin counties; West Indies, southern Mexico and Central America.
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: Pinelands, prairies and open coastal uplands.
Soils: Moist, well-drained to seasonally inundated freshwater or brackish soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance: Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Secondary line; tolerates significant salt wind without injury, but usually is somewhat protected.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Yellow.
Flower Characteristics: Showy clusters of disk flowers.
Flowering Season: All year; peak summer-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous achene.
Wildlife and Ecology: Nectar plant for cassius blue (
Leptotes cassius ), Dorantes longtail (
Urbanus dorantes ), eufala skipper (
Lerodea eufala ), field skipper (
Atalopedes campestris ), Florida duskywing (
Ephyriades brunneus ), Florida white (
Appias drusilla ), great southern white (
Ascia monuste ), julia (
Dryas iulia ), large orange sulphur (
Phoebis agarithe ), martial scrub-hairstreak (
Strymon martialis ), monk skipper (
Asbolis capucinus ), obscure skipper (
Panoquina panoquinoides ), Palatka skipper (
Euphyes pilatka ), red-banded hairstreak (
Calycopis cecrops ), sachem (
Atalopedes campestris ), southern broken-dash (
Wallengrenia otho ), three-spotted skipper (
Cymaenes tripunctus ), twin-spot skipper (
Oligorio maculata ), zarucco duskywing (
Erymis zarucco ) and other butterflies. Attracts bee pollinators.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed or, sometimes, from divisions.
References: Hammer 2004
Comments: See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
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.
