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Ilex opaca
Both male and female plants required for pollination and seed set.
Specimen tree. Screen.
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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, Sharp spines (teeth) on leaves.
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Wildlife, Fruits are eaten by birds.
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Habitat, Upland woods, second bottom but will not tolerate long flooding. Often an understory plant.
Documented in Lee County in a site likely to be natural.
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Did You Know?, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage, Hurricane wind resistance
Bees pollinate flowers.
- Fruit eaten by birds
- Does best in warmer areas of South Florida
- Moderately slow growth
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
Seymeria spp.
They are included here because they are valuable to insects and because they are lovely and good to have in a native garden if you are lucky enough to
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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, Both species are hemi-parasitic (semi-parasitic) and difficult to grow without appropriate host plants.
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Habitat, Open upland woods and disturbed edges.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Larval host for black buckeye.
Attracts insects.
- Compact size
- Does best in cooler areas of South Florida
- Colorful new leafs
- Tropical silhouette
- Excellent small to medium hedge
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
Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis
Used extensively in Indian cultures. Fruits are very high in Vitamin C.
Casual settings, wetland edge or screen plant. Rain gardens and bioswales. Lo
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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, Many would consider this plant weedy: it does self seed and spread via rhizomes. It's wood is weak; stems break easily. Use where these characteristic
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Wildlife, Fruits popular with birds.
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Habitat, Disturbed wetland edges, wet roadsides, etc.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage
Flowers attract many pollinators.
- Damaged by citrus canker
- Recently classified invasive
- Very showy bright yellow flowers
- Relatively compact and narrow canopy
- Requires ample space and light
Euphorbia heterophylla
The author treats this as a friendly weed. Pull them if where there is something more desirable.
Back of a wildflower garden in a casual setting. Gro
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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, Reseeds overly enthusiastically and may become weedy as the year progresses.
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Habitat, Ruderal, disturbed hammocks.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Interesting foliage
- Classic Southern tree
- Rare and unique
- Silvery blue-green fronds
Arisaema dracontium
Mostly a curiosity in the shade garden.
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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, All parts of the plant contain calcium oxalate and are poisonous.
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Wildlife, Birds and other wildlife consume the fruit.
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Habitat, Moist hammocks,
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage
Pollinated by flies.
- Distinctive-looking fruit with spiked exterior
- Requires occassional fertalization
- Towering
- Massive stature when mature
Mitchella repens
This little plant produces two flowers with ovaries that fuse into a single fruit.
Typically grown as a curiosity. This is a very small plant that a
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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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Wildlife, Birds and small mammals consume the berries which mature in the fall and are retained through the winter and spring.
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Habitat, Hammocks, upland hardwood forests, upland mixed forest, seep slopes, second bottom and levees in floodplains.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage
Bumblebees pollinate the flowers. Cross-pollination, required for seed set, is controlled by factors
- Lush, dense shade tree
- Wonderfully fragrant, carries a great distance
- Fruit eaten by birds
Morus rubra
Wind pollinated. Dioecious. According to Huegel (2010), the flowers attract insects.
Plant tree in areas where fallen fruit will not be an issue.
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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, Fallen fruits are messy.
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Wildlife, Fruits are very popular with birds and mammals and some reptiles (for example, Eastern box turtle )
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Habitat, Upper floodplains, hammocks, mesic forests..
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Did You Know?, Interesting foliage
- Smaller stature
- Imposing stature
- Highly nutritious fruit
Philadelphus inodorus
Multi-stemmed. A single stem is a curiosity. A large multi-stemmed plant is a long-blooming wonder.
Despite the common name, this species has sweet-sm
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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, Hammocks, near limestone.
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Did You Know?, Aroma, fragrance, Showy flowers
Pollinated by bees.
- Showy display of fruit
- Decorative diamond-shaped trunk pattern
- Unique, stout pineapple-like trunk when young
- Drought tolerant
- Clusters of tubular flowers
Conradina brevifolia
This is a rare species and it should only be acquired from reputable plant nurseries. Some botanists have declared this endemic species to be a synony
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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, Scrub, scrubby sandhill. In open areas and along cleared roadsides.
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Did You Know?, Aroma, fragrance, Showy flowers
Attracts many pollinators, especially bees.
- Elegant appearance
- Majestic, sprawling canopy
- Will not tolerate frost
- Attracts butterflies and bees
Hibiscus grandiflorus
This is a wetland plant. It is rarely grown, but it has potential in appropriate sites.
Specimen plant or background screen for wet places.
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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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Wildlife, Attracts butterflies, bees, beetles, and birds.
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Habitat, Depressions in pine flatwoods, brackish and freshwater marshes, edges of lakes and ponds, along rivers, swamps, canals, ditches. Commonly in water bu
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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
- Prolific fruiter
- Extremely popular
- Colorful older leaves
- Beautiful pinwheel flowers, often multicolored
- Recently classified invasive
