General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower and rock gardens.
Availability:
Available at native plant nurseries in northeast Florida. Commonly available at native plant nurseries in central Florida.
Description: Small to medium herbaceous wildflower.
Dimensions: About 1-3 feet in height; more when in flower. Usually taller than broad, but sometimes falling over and forming small patches.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Southeastern United States west to Texas and south to the Monroe County Keys; Bahamas. In the Monroe County Keys, disjunct from Miami-Dade County to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key. Not documented on barrier islands in South Florida, but possibly historically present; it grows well at
Pan’s Garden in Palm Beach.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Pinelands and prairies.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone 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: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Yellow.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous achene.
Wildlife and Ecology: Flowers attract bees and butterflies.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed and division.
Comments: A taxon with significant morphological variation undergoing taxonomic revision; appropriate sources should be used. Good for cut flowers. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
