General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A rather rare epiphyte in hammocks and swamps.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Epiphytic wildflower.
Dimensions: About 1-2 feet in height; more when in flower. About as broad as tall.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Miami-Dade and Collier counties and the Monroe County mainland; West Indies, Central America and northern South America. Very rare outside of Collier County.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Swamps and moist forests.
Soils: Epiphytic; or terrestrial in moist, well-drained humusy leaf litter, acid to neutral pH.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow on nutrient poor substrate, but needs some nutrient inputs 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: Low; requires moist substrate and high humidity and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Light shade to moderate shade.
Flower Color: Bracts green to orange with white flowers.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Spring-summer.
Fruit: Green to brown capsule with hairy, wind dispersed seeds.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
Comments: It is listed as endangered by the state of Florida. See also Florida Natural Areas Inventory's
Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida page (Chafin 2000).
