Ecological Restoration Notes: Shade tree in moist, natural settings.
Availability:
Available at native plant nurseries in northeast and central Florida.
Description: Small to medium evergreen tree to 80 feet in height. Trunk can be twisted and often bears short, adventitious branches. Needles 2-4 inches long, in groups of2-4. Female cones are small and shaped like a toy top, 2-3 inches long. Cones can remain on the tree for several years.
Dimensions: Typically 80 feet in height, recorded to 87 feet in height in central Florida
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Southeastern United States west to Alabama and south to Hernando, Polk, Osceola, 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: Swamps and bogs.
Soils: Wet to moist, moderately well-drained to poorly drained organic soils with acid pH.
Nutritional Requirements: High; requires rich organic soils for optimal growth.
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 to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color: Yellow brown.
Flower Characteristics: Cone
Fruit: Cone
References: Wunderlin and Hansen (
2011), Nelson (
1994)
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.
