|                    Everglades Keys false buttonweed
                      |  
              
                |                    Spermacoce neoterminalis
                      |  
              
                |                    Rubiaceae 
                      |  
  
              
                 Landscape Uses:
  | 
               
              
                 | 
                 Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. | 
               
                Ecological Restoration Notes:  | 
               
              
                 | 
                  | 
               
              
                | Availability: | 
               
              
                 | 
                 Rarely grown by native plant nurseries. | 
               
              
                | Description: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Small herbaceous wildflower. | 
               
              
                | Height: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 About 12-18 inches in height.  Erect or spreading and forming small patches as broad or broader than tall. | 
               
              
                | Growth Rate: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Moderate. | 
               
              
                | Range: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Endemic to South Florida from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin, Hendry and Collier counties.  In the Monroe County Keys, disjunct from Miami-Dade County to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key.  Very rare or perhaps extirpated in Broward County. | 
               
              
                | Habitats: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Pinelands and prairies. | 
               
              
                | Soils: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Moist, well-drained limestone 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: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 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. | 
               
              
                | Flower Characteristics: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Semi-showy. | 
               
              
                | Flowering Season: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 All year. | 
               
              
                | Fruit: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Inconspicuous capsule. | 
               
              
                | Wildlife and Ecology: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                  | 
               
                     
                | Horticultural Notes: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Can be grown from seed. | 
               
              
                | Comments: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 It is listed as threatened by the state of Florida. | 
               
              |  
            | 
          
            
               
                 | 
               
              
                
                    George D. Gann, 2015 In habitat, Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park, Florida
                   | 
               
             
            
      
         | 
         
 
   |