General Landscape Uses: |
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Accent shrub or small tree. |
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Ecological Restoration Notes:
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A shrub along hammock especially along the coast. |
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| Description: |
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Large shrub or small tree with a dense, irregular crown
composed of many small trunks from crooked trunks. Bark pale or creamy, thin,
smooth with many breathing pores (lenticels). Leaves dark green above, 3/4-2
inches long. Semi-deciduous, with the old leaves falling as the new flush of
growth begins. |
| Dimensions: |
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Typically 8-15 feet in height in South Florida; to 17.5 feet in
Florida. Often as broad as tall. |
| Growth Rate: |
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Moderate to fast. |
| Range: |
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Southeastern United States south to the Monroe County Keys;
Bermuda and the West Indies. Very rare and scattered in the Monroe County
Keys. |
| Habitats: |
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Hammocks and hammock edges; understory shrub in pine
rocklands. |
| Soils: |
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Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with humusy top
layer. |
| Nutritional Requirements: |
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Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some
organic content to thrive. |
| Salt Water Tolerance: |
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Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish
water. |
| Salt Wind Tolerance: |
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High; can tolerate moderate amounts of salt wind without
injury. |
| Drought Tolerance: |
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High; does not require any supplemental water once
established. |
| Light Requirements: |
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Full sun. |
| Flower Color: |
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Yellowish-green. |
| Flower Characteristics: |
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Semi-showy, in small clusters from the axils of the previous
year's growth. Dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants, or
polygamodioecious, with a few flowers of the opposite sex or bisexual flowers on
the same plant. |
| Flowering Season: |
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All year; peak in spring. |
| Fruit: |
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Black or dark purple drupe. |
| Wildlife and Ecology: |
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Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. Birds eat the
fruits. |
| Horticultural Notes: |
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Can be grown from de-pulped seed. Cover with soil and place in
full sun. |
| Comments: |
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This shrub grow readily in the garden from seed.
Synonyms: plants with smaller leaves growing in the pine rocklands of Miami-Dade
County have been described as a distinct species, F. pinetorum, or variety, F.
segregata var. pinetorum. |