General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Ecological Restoration Notes: Most typically an understory herb in brackish marshes along the coast.
Availability:
Rarely grown by native plant nurseries.
Description: Erect medium wildflower with wiry zigzag stems.
Dimensions: About 1-3 feet in height. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Monroe County Keys and Miami-Dade County north along the west coast to the Franklin County; Bahamas and Cuba.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Marshes and pinelands, often in brackish soils.
Soils: Wet to moist, periodically inundated brackish, sometimes freshwater, 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: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Pale blue or whitish.
Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy.
Flowering Season: Fall-winter.
Fruit: Inconspicuous achene.
Wildlife and Ecology: Attracts native bees and other beneficial insects.
Comments: The zigzag stem of this species is quite noticable. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
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