Rough velvetseed
Guettarda scabra
Rubiaceae


Landscape Uses:

Accent shrub or small tree. Buffer plantings.

Ecological Restoration Notes:

Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description:
Small tree or medium shrub with erect branches and an open, irregular crown. Leaves leathery, very rough above, about 2-4 inches long or sometimes longer.
Height:
Typically 5-15 feet in height or sometimes taller, especially in the Florida Keys. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate:
Moderate.
Range:
Monore County Keys north along the east coast to Martin County; West Indies. Very rare or perhaps absent in the middle Monroe County Keys. Also very rare and sporadic north of the Miami River; perhaps never present or extirpated in Broward County; possibly extirpated in Palm Beach County; known from one location in Martin County. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website. Little mapped this north only to Broward County.
Habitats:
Pine rocklands and hammocks.
Soils:
Moist, well-drained limestone (occasionally sandy) soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements:
Moderate to low; it prefers soils with organic content, but will still grow reasonably well in nutrient poor soils.
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 to high; plants growing in extremely dry soils may die during extended periods of drought.
Light Requirements:
Full sun.
Flower Color:
White.
Flower Characteristics:
Semi-showy.
Flowering Season:
All year; peak winter-spring.
Fruit:
Rounded red berry.
Wildlife and Ecology:
Horticultural Notes:
Difficult to grow from seed.
Comments:
Of sporadic occurrence north of the Miami River.


Don & Joyce Gann
Keith A. Bradley
George D. Gann
In habitat, Everglades National Park, Florida
Eric Fleites
Keith A. Bradley
Joe Montes de Oca via iNaturalist