General Landscape Uses:
Accent or specimen tree in the Florida Keys. Buffer plantings.
Availability:
Widely cultivated. Available in Lake Worth at
Amelia's SmartyPlants (561-540-6296).
Description: Small tree or shrub-like with a straight, erect trunk. Leaves fan-shaped, pale green above, silvery beneath, about 2-3 feet in diameter.
Dimensions: Typically 8-15 feet in height; to 19 feet in South Florida. Becoming taller than broad when mature.
Growth Rate: Slow to moderate.
Range:
Florida Keys; also collected once on an island south of Flamingo in Everglades National Park and recently discovered on Cape Sable in Everglades National Park; West Indies. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Pine rocklands and rockland hammocks.
Soils: Moist, well-drained limestone soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate to low; it prefers soils with organic content, but will still grow reasonably well in nutrient poor soils.
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 injury.
Drought Tolerance: Moderate to high; plants growing in extremely dry soils may die during extended periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color: White turning yellow.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: All year; peak in spring.
Fruit: Round white drupe.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. Larval host plant for monk skipper (Asbolis capucinus) butterflies
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from de-pulped seed. Place container in light shade or full sun.
Comments: It is listed as endangered by the state of Florida.
