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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
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
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
Coreopsis grandiflora
Wildflower garden or butterfly garden. A number of cultivars exist, but none are grown widely in Florida.
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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, Self-seeds, so it can become weedy.
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Habitat, Dry sites. Ruderal.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Attracts many butterflies and pollinators.
- Moderately rapid growth
- Requires shade when young
- Unique, sweet, almond-like flavor
Morella inodora
Screen along the edge of swamps. Primarily used for restoration.
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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 eat the fruits.
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Habitat, Shrub-tree bogs, bayheads, swamps, especially with Cyrilla racemiflora.
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Did You Know?, Interesting foliage
- Elegant
- Does poorly oceanside
- Medium stature
- Handsome
- Decorative diamond-shaped trunk pattern
- Adequate moisture required
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
Spartina alterniflora
Used for shoreline protection. A major saltmarsh plant. Useful for erosion control.
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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 animals eat the seeds.
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Habitat, Salt marsh, tidal flats, beaches.
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Did You Know?, Interesting foliage
Larval food for Louisiana eyed silkmoth (Automeris louisiana)
- Stunning
- Long emerald crownshaft
- Beautiful purple-brown crownshaft
Ptelea trifoliata
Understory tree, use as a background plant or 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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Habitat, Floodplains, rich woodlands, upland mixed forest.
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Did You Know?, Fall color, Showy fruits
Larval host for the giant swallowtail.
Carrion flies pollinate the flowers.
- Very showy bright yellow flowers
- Slender trunk, 4" in diameter
- Relatively uncommon in South Florida
- Native
Phlox divaricata
Range includes most of eastern and central north Ameria west to the prairie region and north into southeastern Canada. The southern range limit is in
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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, Rich woods, calcareous hammocks (in FL) but frequently in acid soils elsewhere.
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Did You Know?, Showy flowers
Attracts butterflies and bees -- only butterflies and long-tongued bees can reach the nectar but other insects are attracted to the flo
- Symmetrical shape
- Magnificent
- Easy/Carefree native
- Forms an open canopy
