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Floristic Inventory of the Florida Keys Database Online

Conocarpus erectus L.
Buttonwood

Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: Roger L. Hammer

Family: Combretaceae

Group: Dicot

Substrate: Terrestrial

Habit: Tree

Perennation: Perennial

Native Range: Bermuda, Florida, the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America, Galapagos and western Africa.

IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status: Secure

Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida

SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence: Present

SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status: Native

SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status: Cultivated

Comments: Visit our Natives For Your Neighborhood website for more information and images. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website. See also a 2022 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog about the "witch's broom" deformity observed occasionally in Buttonwood.

FLORIDA KEYS Occurrence: Present

FLORIDA KEYS Native Status: Native

IRC FLORIDA KEYS Status: Secure

Map of select IRC data for the Florida Keys

Florida Keys History and Distribution: Reported in 1884 by J. Cosmo Melvill for the island of Key West.  Reported in 1907 by C.F. Millspaugh for the lower sandy Keys.  Reported in 1913 by John Kunkel Small for hammocks, sand dunes and shores throughout the Florida Keys.  We consider this native and extant throughout the Florida Keys.

Other data on Conocarpus erectus available from :

Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants

Conocarpus erectus has been reported from the following 29 conservation areas in the FLORIDA KEYS :
Occurrence Native Status
Attwood Addition, Indian Key Historic State Park Present Native
Bahia Honda State Park Present Native
Big Torch Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Biscayne National Park, Florida Keys Section Present Native
Blue Heron Hammock, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Curry Hammock State Park Present Native
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks Botanical State Park Present Native
Dove Creek Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Dry Tortugas National Park Present Native
Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Indian Key Historic State Park Reported
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Present Native
Key West National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Lake San Pedro Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park Present Native
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, Klopp Tract Present Native
Little Hamaca Park Present Native
Little Torch Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Long Key State Park Present Native
Middle Torch Hammocks Parcel 3063, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
National Key Deer Refuge Present Native
Ramrod Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Snake Creek Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Spoonbill Sound Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Sugarloaf Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Torchwood Hammock Preserve Present Native
Wahoo Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park Present Native




Conocarpus erectus has been reported for the following 12 habitats in THE FLORIDA KEYS :
Beach Dune
Coastal Berm
Coastal Interdunal Swale
Disturbed Upland
Disturbed Wetland
Freshwater Tidal Swamp
Keys Cactus Barren
Mangrove swamp
Pine Rockland
Rockland Hammock
Salt Marsh
Sinkhole


All Images:

Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: Roger L. Hammer
Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: James Johnson, 2014
In habitat, Everglades National Park, Florida
Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: James Johnson, 2014
In habitat, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park,
Monroe County, Florida
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Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: George D. Gann
Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: George D. Gann
Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: Shirley Denton
Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: Keith A. Bradley
Conocarpus erectus
Copyright by: Eric Fleites