General Landscape Uses:
Can be used as a groundcover, border plant, or in wildflower gardens.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Perennial herb with hairy stems. Leaves have a similar appearance to parsley. Showy flowers can be pink to purple, blue, lavender, or rarely white.
Dimensions: Typically 1-2 feet in height, as broad as tall.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
South-central United States scattered east to North Carolina. Scattered in Florida. In the panhandle from Jackson to Jefferson counties, In north and central Florida from Suwanee, Columbia, and Duval counties south to Hernando, Marion, and Brevard counties. Isolated in Highlands, Lee, and Broward counties.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Sandhills, dry hammocks, pinelands.
Soils: Dry, well-drained sandy 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: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color: Pinkish purple.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: March.
Fruit: Nutlets.
Wildlife and Ecology: Attracts butterflies.
References: Hall (
2020), Taylor (
1998)
Comments: We have been adding data for this species for central and northern Florida and welcome any feedback or review. If you would like to contribute information or images, please contact George Gann via the IRC staff page.
