Landscape Uses:
	Specimen or accent tree in the Florida Keys.
Ecological Restoration Notes:
	An occasional element of rockland hammocks.
Availability:
	Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.
Description:
	Medium tree with and erect trunk. Bark smooth, white, usually covered with patches of gray, brown or yellow patches. Leaves stiff, dark green above, 3-5 inches long.
Height:
	Typically 20-30 feet in height; to 46 feet in South Florida. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate:
	Slow.
Range:
	Monroe County Keys and Miami-Dade County; Bahamas. In Miami-Dade County, not known from the mainland; known only from the Florida Keys in and around Elliott Key in Biscayne National Park.
Habitats:
	Rockland hammocks.
Soils:
	Moist, well-drained limestone soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements:
	Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance:
	Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance:
	Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance:
	Moderate; generally requires moist soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
Light Requirements:
	Light shade.
Flower Color:
	Yellowish-white.
Flower Characteristics:
	Inconspicuous. Dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
Flowering Season:
	All year; peak in summer.
Fruit:
	Ivory-white ovoid drupe.
Wildlife and Ecology:
	Larval host plant for Florida white (Appias drusilla) butterflies.
Comments:
	The seedling leaves resemble those of holly (Ilex). It is listed as endangered by the state of Florida.