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

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

Ecological Restoration Notes: This mostly prostrate form of Chiococca is a relatively common understory element of pine rocklands.

Availability: Grown by enthusiasts.

Description: Woody groundcover. Stems green or purplish. Leaves small, thick, stiff, and shining.

Dimensions: About 1-2 feet in height. Spreading and forming mats along the ground or rarely climbing into other vegetation.

Growth Rate: Moderate.

Range: Monroe and Miami-Dade counties; northern Bahamas.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

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

Habitats: Pine rocklands and edges of rockland hammocks.

Soils: Moist, well-drained limestone soils, with or without humusy top layer.

Nutritional Requirements: Low; it is most commonly found in nutrient poor soils, but will grow well in soils with some organic content.

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: Moderate to high; plants growing in extremely dry soils may die during extended periods of drought.

Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.

Flower Color: White turning to yellow or purplish-white.

Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy.

Flowering Season: All year.

Fruit: Attractive white to purplish, drupelike berry.

Wildlife and Ecology: Nectar plant for julia (Dryas iulia) and other butterflies.

Horticultural Notes: Grown from seed. Remove pulp from seeds and place in pot with 2" or more of soil. Barely cover seeds with soil. Place in light shade or full sun and keep moist.