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Sassafras albidum
Red/orange fall color is excellent. Leaves have three separate shapes: ovoid, tri-lobed, or mitten-shaped (left or right). Mature trees tend to have f
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Considertions, Like other members of this family, sassafras trees are threatened by the spread of the redbay ambrosia beetle and the laural wilt fungus it carries. M
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Wildlife, Birds consume fruit.
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Habitat, Dry sites. Dry mesic forests.
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Did You Know?, Aroma, fragrance, Fall color, Interesting foliage
Larval food for spicebush butterfly(Papilio troilus), tiger swallow-tail(papilio glaucus), palamede
- Healthy edible fruit
- Handsome
- Breathtaking and memorable
- Highly salt tolerant
- Unique purple-brown crownshaft
- Excellent small hedge
Cirsium horridulum
Natural landscapes including meadows and butterfly gardens.
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray.
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Considertions, Purple thistle is a thorny plant - be very careful when handling.
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Wildlife, The seeds are rich in oil, an important food source for seed-eating birds.
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Habitat, Coastal plain, edges of salt marshes, pinewoods, prairies and disturbed areas.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Interesting foliage, Thorns
Larval host to little metalmark (Calephelis virginiensis) and painted lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies.
N
- Swollen, succulent branches
- Attracts butterflies and bees
- Readily pruned into attractive shapes
- Lovely dark green, shiny leaves
- Mostly bare in the coldest months
Kosteletzkya pentacarpos
Wetland wildflower garden.
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Tolerance, Tolerant of inundation with brackish water
Moderate. Tolerant of salty wind and may get some salt spray. Exposure to salt spray would be uncommon (
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Wildlife, Attracts hummingbirds.
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Habitat, Salt, brackish, or fresh water marshes, sloughs, ditches, borders of mangrove and other swamps, wet forest clearings.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Attracts butterflies and various pollinators.
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Propagation, Fruit ones don't come true from seed so propagate vegetatively with either cuttings or by grafting onto a hardy
rootstock.
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Did You Know?, The plant is smaller, typically a large shrub, and more cold hardy. The fruits are sweet, with a thinner, edible red skin and the white flesh interior
- Flowers profusely year round
- Easy/Carefree
- Moderately salt tolerant
- Showy creamy white flowers
- Wonderfully fragrant flowers
Fagus grandifolia
Shade tree. It is known for its smooth light gray bark. Its leaves turn yellow and then light brown remaining on the tree until nearly spring and prov
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Considertions, This is a large tree that will produce dense shade and many root suckers. Take this into consideration when deciding where to plant it. Slow growing.
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Wildlife, Fruits (a nut in a bur) are valued by wildlife.
Tree valued for nesting by some songbirds.
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Habitat, Upland, mesic to dry mesic hardwood forests.
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Did You Know?, Interesting bark, Fall color, Interesting foliage
Larval host for walnut sphinx (Amorpha juglandis).
- Excellent choice for narrow spaces
- Excellent small hedge
- Critically endangered
- Ideal for smaller spaces
Ulmus americana
This tree is subject to Dutch elm disease. Dutch elm disease has not been detected in Florida (IFAS 2008). In most of eastern North America, this tree
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Considertions, While Dutch elm disease has not been detected in Florida (IFAS, 2018), the planting practices that result in massive losses of street trees north of F
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Wildlife, Seeds used by birds in spring when little else is available.
Used for nesting.
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Habitat, Floodplain forest, wet mesic forests, hardwood swamps.
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Did You Know?, Fall color, Interesting foliage
Larval host for: Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma), Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis), Painted Lady (Vanessa ca
- Beautiful pinwheel flowers, often multicolored
- Very full crown
- Ideal with Mediterranean architecture
Wisteria frutescens
Less aggressive growth than similar Asian species. Blooms only on new wood. At least one cultivar has white flowers.
Good trellis, post or fence vine
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray.
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Wildlife, Foliage palatable to deer.
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Habitat, Floodplains, gum swamps, upland thickets.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Interesting foliage
Attracts pollinators.
Larval host for silver spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus) and long-tailer skipper (Urbanus
- Colorful older leaves
- Massive stature when mature
- Unique, fern-like leaves
Asclepias perennis
Small specimen plant in wet areas. Does well in bog gardens and rain gardens or bioswales.
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Considertions, Toxic.
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Habitat, Marshes, swamps
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Larval host to the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), queen butterfly (Danaus gilippus), and soldier butterfly, (Danaus eresimus).
A
- Relatively uncommon in South Florida
- Can be trimmed into manicured shapes
- Beautiful pinwheel flowers, often multicolored
- Ideal with Mediterranean architecture
- Wide umbrella-shaped canopy
Taxodium distichum
Younger specimens have a conical shape, but older trees tend to flatten out at the top. In some areas, the strangler fig (Ficus aurea)has strangled ma
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Considertions, Can produce knees, even if grown in uplands.
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Wildlife, Attracts seed-eating birds. Valuable as roosting and nesting areas for colonial wading birds.
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Habitat, Riverine swamps, large swamps around lakes. Inundated areas associated with some form of flowing water. Floodplains, sloughs, strands. May be assoc
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Did You Know?, Fall color, Interesting foliage, Hurricane wind resistance
Larval host for baldcypress sphinx (Isoparce cupressi) moth.
- Not as popular as it once was
- Very full crown
- Often draped with Spanish moss
- Iconic symbol of the south
Salix nigra
While it naturally occurs in or near wetlands, this tree can also grow in uplands. Stems root readily and most of the stems stuck in a moist substrate
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Considertions, Weak wood--tends to break.
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Habitat, Floodplains.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Interesting foliage
The catkins of small bees and flies who feed on the pollen, wind pollinated.
Caterpillars of Limenitis archippus
- Unique, sweet almond flavor
- Stunning long emerald crownshaft
- Not a true pine
- Forms an open canopy
- Unique, sweet, almond-like flavor
Vallesia antillana
It is listed as endangered by the state of Florida and as critically imperiled in South Florida by The Institute for Regional Conservation.
Specimen
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Habitat, Tropical rockland hammock, coastal rock barren, beach dune, coastal strand. Lower Keys only.
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Did You Know?, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage
- Lush, dense shade tree
- Beloved in South Florida
- Deciduous
- Highly wind tolerant
- Highly salt tolerant
- Underutilized
Hibiscus aculeatus
Tolerates winter flooding.
This is a wetland plant. It is rarely grown, but it has potential in appropriate sites.
Wet wildflower garden. For appeara
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Habitat, Moist sites. Hydric and mesic pine flatwoods, edges of sloughs, savannas, bogs, ditches.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Larval host of Gray Hairstreak, Painted Lady Butterfly, Common Checkered Skipper and Tropical Checkered Skipper butterflies and four
- Can be trimmed into manicured shapes
- Unusually shaped, asymmetrical tree
- Fragrant clusters of flowers in fall
- Cold tolerant
- Wide umbrella-shaped canopy
- Not recommended
Carya glabra
Called pignut because pigs eat the nuts.
Excellent specimen or shade tree in areas where its roots will not be disturbed.
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
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Considertions, Does not tolerate root disturbance. The author has lost multiple trees due to a fungal root pathogen that was apparently able to enter the tree when r
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Wildlife, A favorite food of squirrels.
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Habitat, Xeric hammock, mixed upland forest, pine-oak-hickory woods.
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Did You Know?, Fall color, Interesting foliage, Hurricane wind resistance
Larval host for many moths including; luna moth (Actias luna), hickory leafroller moth (Ar
- Majestic
- Beautiful exotic foliage
- Delicious edible fruit
- Year-round blooms
- Christmas tree shape
