Landscape Uses:
	Accent or specimen shrub or small tree in coastal areas.
Ecological Restoration Notes:
	A relatively common sub-canopy tree in coastal hammocks in the Florida Keys and the shores of Florida Bay.
Availability:
	Commonly available at native plant nurseries in central and South Florida.
Description:
	Small tree or large shrub with a broadly rounded crown. Trunks to 10 inches in diameter, but usually much smaller. Bark light gray, broken into short, thick scales. Leaves dark green above, shiny, 2-5 inches long, aromatic when crushed.
Height:
	Typically 15-20 feet in height; to 29 feet in South Florida. Usually taller than broad.
Growth Rate:
	Slow.
Range:
	Monroe, Miami-Dade and Collier counties; West Indies, Mexico and the Bay Islands of Honduras. Very rare on the mainland along the extreme southern coast to about Everglades City. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website.
Habitats:
	Coastal hammocks.
Soils:
	Moist, well-drained limestone or calcareous sandy soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements:
	Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance:
	Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt 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:
	Red petals with yellow anthers.
Flower Characteristics:
	Semi-showy clusters with green and purple buds and red flowers.
Flowering Season:
	All year; peak spring-summer.
Fruit:
	Red berry.
Wildlife and Ecology:
	Provides food and cover for wildlife. Nectar plant for Schaus' swallowtail (Heraclides aristodemius) and other butterflies.
Horticultural Notes:
	Can be grown from seed.
Comments:
	The crushed leaves have a spicy fragrance. In the 1700s, the inner bark was exported from the West Indies to Europe as a substitute for cinnamon. The outer bark is toxic. It is listed as endangered by the state of Florida. See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flower Friday page.