General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also an accent groundcover in coastal uplands.
Ecological Restoration Notes: An ephemeral groundcover in the front line of beach dunes.
Availability:
Commonly available at native plant nurseries in central Florida.
Description: Prostrate herbaceous vine with short stems.
Dimensions: Typically 1-6 inches inches in height; stems short, less than 5 feet, rooting at the nodes.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Southeastern United States west to Texas and south to the Monroe County Keys; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America. Very rare in the Monroe County Keys and perhaps absent to the west of Bahia Honda.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Beach dunes.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy 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: Pioneer; grows in unconsolidated substrate in direct salt wind and spray.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: White and yellow (or with purplish lobes).
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall; peak summer-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous capsule.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
Comments: Often ephemeral on beach dunes in South Florida. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
