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Hypelate trifoliata Sw.
White-ironwood, Inkwood

Hypelate trifoliata
Copyright by: George D. Gann
In habitat, Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park,
Florida, 2013

Family: Sapindaceae

Group: Dicot

Substrate: Terrestrial

Habit: Shrub

Perennation: Perennial

Native Range: South Florida and the West Indies.

Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida

NatureServe Global Status: Apparently Secure

State of Florida Status: Endangered

Florida Natural Areas Inventory State Status: Critically Imperiled

IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status: Imperiled

SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence: Present

SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status: Native

South Florida History and Distribution: This was ranked as imperiled in Rare Plants of South Florida (Gann et al. 2002) and using modern NatureServe criteria in 2025.

SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status: Cultivated

Comments: This is native to the South Florida mainland in Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys from North Key Largo south to Key West, where it is possibly extirpated. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website.

See also, IRC’s report Vascular plant species of management concern in Everglades National Park (Gann 2015) and Florida Natural Areas Inventory's Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida page (Chafin 2000).

Other data on Hypelate trifoliata available from :

Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants
Hypelate trifoliata has been found in the following 9 conservation areas :
Occurrence Native Status
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks Botanical State Park Present Native
Dove Creek Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Everglades National Park Present Native
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Present Native
National Key Deer Refuge Possibly Extirpated Possibly Extirpated
Porter-Russell Pineland Present Native
Snake Creek Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
SOCSOUTH Present Native, Cultivated Only
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park Present Native

Hypelate trifoliata has been found in the following 2 counties :
Occurrence Native Status
Miami-Dade County Native
Monroe County (Keys) Native

Hypelate trifoliata has been found in the following 2 habitats :
Pine Rockland
Rockland Hammock

All Images:

Hypelate trifoliata
Copyright by: George D. Gann
In habitat, Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park,
Florida, 2013
Hypelate trifoliata
Copyright by: George D. Gann
in habitat, Everglades National Park, Key Largo, Florida, 2013
Hypelate trifoliata
Copyright by: George D. Gann
in habitat, Everglades National Park, Key Largo, Florida, 2013
Hypelate trifoliata
Copyright by: George D. Gann
in habitat, Everglades National Park, Key Largo, Florida, 2013
Hypelate trifoliata
Copyright by: Roger L. Hammer