General Landscape Uses:
Water gardens and along pond and lake edges.
Availability:
Commonly available at native plant nurseries in central Florida. Available at native plant nurseries in South Florida.
Description: Large herb.
Dimensions: Typically 3-6 feet in height. Spreads and forms large patches.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Southeastern United States south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and South America. 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: Swamps, marshes and wet disturbed sites.
Soils: Wet, poorly-drained organic soils.
Nutritional Requirements: High; requires rich organic soils for optimal growth.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Purple.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Urticle.
Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for Brazilian skipper (
Calpodes ethlius) butterflies.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed and division.
Comments: See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
