Natives For Your Neighborhood
Conservation of rare plants, animals, and ecosystems

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower and butterfly gardens.

Availability: Native plant nurseries in central and northern Florida.

Description: Medium herbaceous wildflower.

Dimensions: About 2-3 inches in height; to 3 feet when in flower. Taller than broad when in flower.

Growth Rate: Moderate.

Range: Widespread in eastern North America south to Miami-Dade and Collier counties. Perhaps never present or extirpated in Broward County. Not documented on barrier islands in South Florida, but possibly historically present; it is cultivated 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: Pinelands and prairies.

Soils: Moist to wet, well-drained to moderately well drained sandy or limestone 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: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.

Light Requirements: Full sun.

Flower Color: Rose purplish.

Flower Characteristics: Showy.

Flowering Season: Summer-fall.

Fruit: Inconspicuous achene.

Wildlife and Ecology: Atttracts bees, butterflies and other beneficial insect pollinators. Valuable source of insects for birds.

Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.

Comments: See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page. See a 2018 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog on Blazing Stars and their flowers.