General Landscape Uses:
Wildflower garden.
Availability:
Available at native plant nurseries in central Florida.
Description: Perennial herb up to 2 feet tall with blue to violet flowers.
Dimensions: Typically 1-2 feet in height.
Range:
Eastern and southern United States south to Lee, Highlands, and Martin counties.
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: Sandhills, hammocks, bogs.
Soils: Dry to wet, well-drained to poorly drained sandy or organic soils, with or without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate to low; it prefers soils with organic content, but will still grow reasonably well in nutrient poor soils.
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: Moderate to high; plants growing in extremely dry soils may die during extended periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color: Blue to violet.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Dark brown nutlet.
Wildlife and Ecology: Valuable source of seeds for birds.
Horticultural Notes: Prolific re-seeder.
References: Hall (
2020), Taylor (
1998)
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. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
