General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Medium to large shrub or rarely a small tree with a rounded crown. Trunks short. Bark smooth, becoming rough with age and bearing many wart-like projections. Leaves yellowish-green, velvety, to 1 foot long.
Dimensions: About 6-10 feet in height. About as broad as tall.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Monroe County Keys north to St John's, Putnam, Lake, Polk and Manatee counties; West Indies, Texas, Mexico, Central America and South America. It is also present in Africa and Asia, but its nativity there is unclear. 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 ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Hammock edges and gaps.
Soils: Moist, 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: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: White petals with yellow anthers.
Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy.
Flowering Season: All year.
Fruit: Yellow globose berry.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides food and cover for wildlife. White-crowned pigeons eat the fruits.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed and root cuttings.
