General Landscape Uses:
Hedge or patio tree.
Availability:
Commonly available at native plant nurseries in central Florida. Available at native plant nurseries in northeast Florida.
Description: Large evergreen shrub or small tree 10-25 feet tall. Dark green leaves with rusty scale underneath, 1-3 inches long. New leaves are a showy orange or rust color.
Dimensions: Typically 10-25 feet in height, taller than broad.
Range:
Southern Georgia south through Florida to Lee, Glades, and Brevard counties. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website.
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: Scrub, flatwoods, sandy hammocks.
Soils: Dry to moist, well-drained sandy soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term 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: White to pinkish.
Flowering Season: Spring.
Fruit: Small, brown capsule.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides some food and moderate amounts of cover for wildlife.
Horticultural Notes: Might colonize to form a thicket.
References: Waskowski (
2010), Nelson (
2003), Schaefer &
Comments: Toxicity is unknown but other members of the heath family are known to be toxic. 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. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
