Landscape Uses:
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Accent or specimen shrub. Informal hedges. Spiny barrier plantings. |
Ecological Restoration Notes: |
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Availability: |
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Widely cultivated. Available in Lake Worth at Indian Trails Native Nursery (561-641-9488),at Amelia's SmartyPlants (561-540-6296), in Boynton Beach at Native Choice Nursery (561-756-4370) and in Miami at Pro Native Consulting (786-488-3101).
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Description: |
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Large shrub or rarely a small tree. Trunks usually creeping along the ground but sometimes becoming erect, almost always branching and forming large patches. Leaves fan-shaped, stiff, with numerous sharp teeth on the stems (petiole), green or bluish-green. |
Height: |
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About 4-6 feet in height; to 15 feet in the wild. Usually broader than tall. |
Growth Rate: |
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Very slow to slow. |
Range: |
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Southeastern United States south to the Monroe County Keys. Very rare in the upper Monroe County Keys and apparently very rare or absent in the middle Keys. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website. |
Habitats: |
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Pinelands, scrub and coastal uplands. |
Soils: |
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Moist to dry or seasonally wet, well-drained to moderately well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with or without humusy top layer. |
Nutritional Requirements: |
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Low to moderate; it can grow in nutrient poor soils or soils with some organic content. |
Salt Water Tolerance: |
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Moderately low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water, but tolerates short term inunation by salt water from storm surge with minimal damage. |
Salt Wind Tolerance: |
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Secondary line; tolerates significant salt wind without injury, but usually is somewhat protected. |
Drought Tolerance: |
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High; does not require any supplemental water once established. |
Light Requirements: |
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Full sun to light shade. |
Flower Color: |
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White or creamy white. |
Flower Characteristics: |
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Semi-showy when at peak. Fragrant. |
Flowering Season: |
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All year; peak in summer. |
Fruit: |
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Blue-black drupe. Summer-fall. |
Wildlife and Ecology: |
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Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. Larval host plant for monk skipper (Asbolis capucinus) and palmetto skipper (Euphyes arpa) butterflies. Nectar plant for Bartram's scrub-hairstreak (Strymon acis), atala (Eumaes atala) and other pollinators. A variety of animals eat the fruits, including deer, bear and turkey. |
Horticultural Notes: |
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Can be grown from de-pulped seed. Scatter seeds on surface of soil and barely cover. Place container in light shade to full sun. Germination may take 6 weeks or more. |
Comments: |
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Plants with silverish foliage, most common along the coasts but also found in the interior, are sold as silver saw palmetto (Serenoa repens ‘Silver’ or ‘Cinerea’) |