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Saccharum giganteum
Specimen plant or background plant in moist informal garden. This is a mid-sized bunching grass until the flower stalk shoots up in the fall. Then it
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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, The flower stalks need to be removed once no longer showy.
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Wildlife, Birds will eat the seeds. Provides cover.
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Habitat, Flatwoods, marshes, coastal swales, cypress ponds, lake shores, cutthroat seep.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Showy fruits
Host plant for the Clouded Skipper butterfly (Lerema accius)
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Did You Know?, Yerba mate, the traditional tea-like beverage from South America, is made with leaves of a close relative to our holly trees, the Ilex Paraguayanis.
Y
- Easily trimmed to maintain desired size
- Christmas tree shape
- Massive, nutrient-dense edible fruit
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
Echinacea purpurea
Requires a reliable cold period to persist. In most of Florida it can be treated as an annual in gardens.
Listed as Endangered by the State of Florida
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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, The further south you go, the more short-lived this species gets. Except in extreme north Florida, treat as an annual or at least don't assume that i
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Wildlife, Small birds and small mammals consume the seed.
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Habitat, Upland glades, openings in upland mixed forests on calcareous soils.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Attracts many pollinators, especially bees.
- Not recommended
- Unique, sweet almond flavor
- Attractive and unique swollen trunk
Phytolacca americana
Interesting red stems. Makes a good specimen plant in an informal garden. Weedy in appearance if in large numbers and stems tend to split when branche
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Moderate. Tolerant of salty wind and may get some salt spray. Exposure to salt spray wo
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Considertions, The roots and seeds are poisonous.
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Wildlife, Birds eat the berries.
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Habitat, Flatwoods, disturbed areas.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Showy fruits
Attracts bees including Augochlora pura, Augochloropsis metallica, A. sumptuosa, Dialictus miniatulus, D. nymphalis, D. p
- Decorative diamond-shaped trunk pattern
- Elegant
- Beautiful pinwheel flowers, often multicolored
- Attractive dark green leaves
- Available single or multi-stalked
- Attracts butterflies and bees
Symphyotrichum chapmanii
Based on the BONAP range map, this species is a "near endemic" -- it occurs only in the panhandle and a 3 counties in southern Alabama.
At this time,
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Tolerance, Unknown
Unknown
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Wildlife, Small birds eat the seed.
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Habitat, Wet flatwoods, bogs, savannahs, prairies
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Nectar plant for many butterfly species but also visited by other native insect pollinators.
- Beautiful, natural globe shape
- Uncommon
- No longer recommended
Panicum virgatum
In the opinion of this author, this species has a weedy look.
Occurs throughout Florida but is more frequent in flatwoods pond settings and small flo
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Moderate. Tolerant of salty wind and may get some salt spray. Exposure to salt spray wo
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Considertions, An aggressive grower. Plant where that characteristic is appropriate.
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Habitat, Riverine forests, flatwoods, beaches, fresh and brackish marshes, disturbed sites.
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Did You Know?, Larval host for tawny edged skipper.
- Majestic and graceful
- Slender trunk, 4" in diameter
- Highly nutritious fruit
Salix caroliniana
While generally a swamp plant, this tree can grow in uplands. Stems root readily and most of the stems stuck in a moist substrate will survive withou
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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, Weak wood, easily broken.
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Habitat, Swamps, marshes, floodplains, glades around gator holes. Open, wet, sunny areas.
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Did You Know?, Interesting bark, Showy flowers, Showy fruits
Larval host plant for Viceroy (Basilarchia archippus).
The species is wind pollinated, but bees harves
- Fragrant clusters of flowers in fall
- Attractive mottled bark
- Majestic and graceful
- Stunning and colorful while in bloom
- Highly wind tolerant
- Prominent pale green crownshaft
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
Called cinnamon fern because of the color of its fertile fronds. In Florida it sends up its fertile fronds in the spring and fall; farther north in it
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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, This species typically grows on seepage edges of swamps and in the upper reaches of baygalls (bay swamps). It is not found in long-term standing wate
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Did You Know?, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage
- Unique swollen blue-green to silver trunk
- Magnificent
- Excellent small to medium hedge
- Attractive shade tree
- Beautiful shiny green leaves
- Attractive flowers, typically deep orange
Zamia integrifolia
Although palm-like in appearance, this is a cycad, a primitive group of non-flowering plants. It is listed as commercially exploited by the state of F
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Tolerance, Tolerant of inundation with brackish water
Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray.
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Considertions, Grows slowly.
Seeds, foliage, and roots are toxic.
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Habitat, Upland hardwood forests, high pine, coastal hammocks, shell middens.
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Did You Know?, Interesting foliage
Larval host for the rare atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala florida) which is restricted to South Florida and the echo moth (Sierarct
- Stunning long emerald crownshaft
- Falls over easily, may require staking
- Imposing stature
- Killed by citrus greening (HLB)
- Forms an open canopy
Symphyotrichum concolor
Benefits from controlled burns. There are contradictions in herbarium databases, and reliable observations in counties where there are no herbarium sp
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Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water.
Moderate. Tolerant of salty wind and may get some salt spray. Exposure to salt spray wo
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Wildlife, Used as browse by deer to the extent that in some states, browsing is an issue.
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Habitat, Dry, sandy
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Nectar plant for many butterfly species but also visited by other native insect pollinators.
- Tiered branches
- Wind tolerant
- Sometime grows horozontially
- Massive stature
- Width often exceeds height
- Slender and elegant
Crossopetalum rhacoma
Listed as Threatened in Florida. Please acquire from reputable sources.
Screen plant. Informal hedge. Specimen.
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Tolerance, Tolerant of frequent or regular inundation (usually areas with tidal inundation)
High. Can tolerate significant and ongoing amounts of salty wind and
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Wildlife, Fruits attract birds.
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Habitat, Pine rockland, rockland hammock.
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Did You Know?, Showy fruits
- Moderately salt tolerant
- Breathtaking and memorable
- Will not tolerate frost
- Adequate fertalization required
Distichlis spicata
Lawn-like groundcover especially near the edges of salt water.
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Tolerance, Tolerant of frequent or regular inundation (usually areas with tidal inundation)
High. Can tolerate significant and ongoing amounts of salty wind and
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Wildlife, Birds and other wildlife consume seed.
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Habitat, Salt marsh.
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Did You Know?, Larval host for obscure skipper (Panoquina panoquinoides) and saltmarsh skipper (Panoquina panoquin).
- Unusual stilt roots
- Wonderfully fragrant
- Does best in warmer areas of South Florida
- Highly wind tolerant
