General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower gardens.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A critically imperiled element of the South Florida flora, which would benefit from both habitat restoration and population augmentations.
Availability:
Rarely grown by enthusiasts and at botanical gardens.
Description: Small herbaceous wildflower.
Dimensions: About 3-9 inches in height. Spreading and forming small open patches broader than tall.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Peninsular Florida, mostly along the eastern coast from northern Miami-Dade County to Volusia County.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Primarily open, coastal strand.
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: 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: Lavender.
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Small pod (legume).
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
Comments: For more information, visit our
Floristic Inventory of South Florida Database Online. See also Florida Natural Areas Inventory's
Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida page (Chafin 2000).
