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Exostema caribaeum (Jacq.) Roem. & Schult.
Caribbean princewood

Exostema caribaeum
Copyright by: George D. Gann
in habitat, Dominican Republic, 2011

Family: Rubiaceae

Group: Dicot

Substrate: Terrestrial

Habit: Tree

Perennation: Perennial

Native Range: South Florida, the West Indies, Mexico and Central America.

Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida

NatureServe Global Status: Secure

State of Florida Status: Endangered

Florida Natural Areas Inventory State Status: Imperiled

IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status: Critically Imperiled

SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence: Present

SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status: Native

SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status: Cultivated

Comments: This is native to the Florida Keys from Elliott Key in Biscayne National Park south to Key West, where it is possibly extirpated. One specimen was collected in 1910 on the mainland in historical Brickell Hammock by J.W. Harshberger (s.n. NY). There are no other records from the South Florida mainland or from offshore barrier islands. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website.

See also, IRC’s report Vascular plant species of management concern in Everglades National Park (Gann 2015), page 18 and Florida Natural Areas Inventory's Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida page (Chafin 2000).

Other data on Exostema caribaeum available from :

Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants
Exostema caribaeum has been found in the following 10 conservation areas :
Occurrence Native Status
Attwood Addition, Indian Key Historic State Park Present Native
Biscayne National Park Present Native
Biscayne National Park, Florida Keys Section Present Native
Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks Botanical State Park Present Native
Dove Creek Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Everglades National Park Present Native
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Present Native
National Key Deer Refuge Present Native
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park Assumed to be Present Native

Exostema caribaeum has been found in the following 2 counties :
Occurrence Native Status
Miami-Dade County Native
Monroe County (Keys) Native

Exostema caribaeum has been found in the following habitat :
Rockland Hammock

All Images:

Exostema caribaeum
Copyright by: George D. Gann
in habitat, Dominican Republic, 2011
Exostema caribaeum
Copyright by: Roger L. Hammer
Exostema caribaeum
Copyright by: George D. Gann
in habitat, Everglades National Park, Key Largo, Florida, 2013