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

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also butterfly gardens in wet soils.

Ecological Restoration Notes: A common but somewhat ephemeral understory herb in swamps and moist forests.

Availability: Available at native plant nurseries in central Florida.

Description: Short-lived medium herb.

Dimensions: Typically 2-3 feet in height. Sometimes as broad as tall.

Growth Rate: Fast.

Range: Widespread in North America south to the Monroe County mainland; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

 Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.

Habitats: Swamps and moist forests.

Soils: Moist to wet, moderately well-drained to well-drained, sandy, limestone, or organic soils, with humusy top layer.

Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.

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: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.

Light Requirements: Light shade to moderate shade.

Flower Color: Greenish.

Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.

Flowering Season: Summer-fall.

Fruit: Inconspicuous.

Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host and nectar plant for red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterflies; larval host for question mark (Polygonia interrogationis) butterflies.

Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.