Natives For Your Neighborhood
Conservation of rare plants, animals, and ecosystems

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wet to moist wildlfower and butterfly gardens.

Availability: Grown by enthusiasts and occasionally by native plant nurseries.

Description: Medium herbaceous wildflower with wiry stems.

Dimensions: About 2-3 feet in height. Usually taller than broad.

Growth Rate: Moderate.

Range: Southeastern United States west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland; Bahamas and Cuba.

 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: Marshes.

Soils: Wet to moist, moderately well-drained to poorly drained sandy or limestone soils, without humus.

Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.

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.

Flower Characteristics: Showy inflorescence.

Flowering Season: Summer-fall.

Fruit: A pair of inconspicuous carpels pendent from a supporting axis.

Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) butterflies. Attracts bee pollinators.

Comments: See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page.