General Landscape Uses:
Specimen.
Availability:
Rarely grown by native plant nurseries.
Description: Small deciduous tree about 30 feet tall often with spine-tipped twigs along the branches and trunk. Brownish, shaggy bark. Elliptic leaves 2-4 inches long and fragrant white flowers 1 inch wide, set in clusters and turning pink with age.
Dimensions: Typically 30 feet in height, taller than broad. Can form thickets.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Northern United States from Vermont to Idaho scattered south to Arizona and Citrus and Lake 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.
Habitats: Mesic hammocks and floodplain forests.
Soils: Moist to wet, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with 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: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: Moderate; generally requires moist soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color: White turning to pink.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Spring.
Fruit: Red and juicy. Edible but sour.
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.
