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Sevenyear-apple Casasia clusiifolia
Rubiaceae
Copyright by: Roger L. Hammer
General Landscape Uses:
Accent or specimen shrub or small tree along the coast. Buffer plantings.
Availability:
Widely cultivated. Available in Boynton Beach at Sustainscape, Inc. (561-245-5305).
Description: Medium to large shrub or rarely a small tree with a dense rounded crown. Bark pale. Leaves large, shiny, 2-6 inches long.
Dimensions: Typically 5-15 feet in height; to 25 feet in South Florida. Usually about as broad as tall, especially when growing in full sun.
Growth Rate: Slow to moderate.
Range:
Monroe County Keys north to Broward and Lee counties; Bermuda, Bahamas and Cuba. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or 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: Secondary line; tolerates significant salt wind without injury, but usually is somewhat protected.
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: Semi-showy, star-shaped. Dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants.
Flowering Season: All year; peak spring-summer.
Fruit: Berry, green to gold at maturity, turning dark brown or almost black. Edible but not tasty.
Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for tantalus sphinx (Aellopus tantalus) moths. Nectar plant for mangrove skipper (Phocides pigmalion) and other butterflies.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
Comments: Although the flowers can be very attractive, the fruits can be downright ugly.