General Landscape Uses:
Water gardens and along pond and lake edges.
Availability:
Native plant nurseries.
Description: Medium herbaceous wildflower.
Dimensions: Typically 2-3 feet in height. Usually taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Eastern and southeastern United States west to Texas and Oklahoma and south to the Monroe County Keys; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Very rare or extirpated in the Monroe County Keys where collected once on Big Pine Key in 1951.
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 marshes.
Soils: Wet, poorly-drained organic soils.
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.
Flower Color: White and yellow.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous achene.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides food for birds. Attracts a variety of pollinators.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed and division.
References: Miami-Dade County Landscape Manual
(2005).
Comments: See a 2019 post on the
Treasure Coast Natives blog on aquatic emergent plants, including bulltongue arrowhead, and the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
