General Landscape Uses:
Wildflower gardens. Moist coastal locations.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A relatively commmon element of coastal uplands.
Availability:
Available at native plant nurseries in central and South Florida. Available in Boynton Beach at
Sustainscape (561-245-5305).
Description: Medium herbaceous wildflower from a basal rosette. Leaves strap-like, leathery, up to 2 1/2 feet long.
Dimensions: Typically 2-3 feet in height, more when in flower. About as tall as broad.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Monroe County Keys north along the coasts to Volusia, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties; Texas; West Indies.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Coastal beaches and thickets; sometimes along the margins of mangrove swamps.
Soils: Moist, well-drained to occasionally inundated brackish sandy soils.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Frontline; grows in direct salt wind but away from constant salt spray.
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.
Flower Characteristics: Showy. Fragrant.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Green fleshy capsule. Maturing in fall.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed and divisions.
Comments: Luber grasshoppers chew the leaves. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
