General Landscape Uses:
	Accent or specimen shrub or small tree. Buffer plantings.
Availability:
	Widely cultivated.
Description:
	Medium to large shrub or small tree with a narrow crown from crooked trunks. Bark pale gray. Leaves wax-covered, semi-deciduous, 1-4 inches long, aromatic when crushed.
Dimensions:
	Typically 8-15 feet in height in South Florida, but extremely variable; to 36 feet in Florida. Sometimes as broad as tall, especially when smaller.
Growth Rate:
	Moderate.
Range:
	Eastern and southeastern United States west to Texas and Oklahoma and south to the Monroe County Keys; Bermuda, West Indies, Mexico and Central America. In the Monroe County Keys, disjunct from the Miami-Dade County mainland and North Key Largo to the lower Keys.
Habitats:
	Swamps and forest edges.
Soils:
	Moist to wet, well-drained to poorly-drained sandy, limestone, or organic soils, usually 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:
	Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance:
	Moderate; generally requires moist soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
Light Requirements:
	Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color:
	White.
Flower Characteristics:
	Inconspicuous catkins.
Flowering Season:
	All year; peak winter-spring.
Fruit:
	Small, waxy bluish drupe.
Wildlife and Ecology:
	Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. Larval host plant for red-banded hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) butterflies and io (Automeris io) moths.
Horticultural Notes:
	Can be grown from seed; usually cold stratified. Also can be grown from cuttings with difficulty.