General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A somewhat weedy understory herb in pine rocklands.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Small creeping herb.
Dimensions: About 2-4 inches in height. Spreading across the ground and forming small patches.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Monroe County Keys and Miami-Dade County; West Indies. Also collected once Palm Beach County (Lantana). In Miami-Dade County, not native north of the Miami River. In the Monroe County Keys, apparently disjunct from Miami-Dade County and North Key Largo to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key; also collected in Key West in the mid 1800s.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Pine rocklands.
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: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Red.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: All year.
Fruit: Inconspicuous warty capsule.
