General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower gardens.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A critically imperiled element of the South Florida flora, which would benefit from both habitat restoration and population augmentations.
Availability:
Rarely grown by enthusiasts and at botanical gardens.
Description: Small herbaceous wildflower.
Dimensions: About 3-9 inches in height. Spreading and forming small open patches broader than tall.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Peninsular Florida, mostly along the eastern coast from northern Miami-Dade County to Volusia County.
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: Primarily open, coastal strand.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: High; can tolerate moderate amounts of salt wind without significant injury.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Lavender.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Small pod (legume).
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
Comments: For more information, visit our
Floristic Inventory of South Florida Database Online. See also Florida Natural Areas Inventory's
Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida page (Chafin 2000).
