General Landscape Uses:
Wildflower gardens.
Availability:
Available at native plant nurseries in central Florida.
Description: Small herbaceous wildflower.
Dimensions: Typically 3-9 inches in height. Many plants may occur together forming large masses.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Southeastern United States south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland; Bahamas. In the Monroe County Keys, disjunct from Miami-Dade County to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Pinelands, prairies and moist disturbed sites.
Soils: Moist to wet, well- to moderately-drained freshwater soils.
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: High; can tolerate moderate amounts of salt wind without significant injury.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: White to lavender and yellow.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: All year; peak spring-summer.
Fruit: Inconspicuous achene. All year.
Wildlife and Ecology:
Nectar plant for zarucco duskywing (
Erynnis zarucco) butterflies. Attracts bees and other insect pollinators.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
Comments: Spreads readily from seed in the garden and may become a little weedy. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
