General Landscape Uses:
Shade tree, street tree.
Availability:
Rarely grown by native plant nurseries in northern Florida.
Description: Small to medium deciduous tree 30-60 feet tall with deep vertical furrowed bark, reddish brown to grayish. Leaves 4-8 inches long, typically with 5 lobes, the terminal 3 lobes squarish.
Dimensions: Typically 30-60 feet in height, almost as broad as tall. Up to 97 feet in height in the Florida Panhandle.
Growth Rate: Slow.
Range:
Midwestern and southern United States west to central Texas and south to Lake and Pasco 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: Hammocks.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate to high; grows best with some organic content and may languish in nutrient poor soils.
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.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: Spring.
Fruit: Acorn 0.5-1 inch long.
Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for Juvenal's duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) and white M hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) butterflies.
Horticultural Notes: Hard to transplant.
References: Mellichamp (
2014), Wunderlin and Hansen 2011
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.
