Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wet wildflower and butterfly gardens.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description:
Small to medium herbaceous wildflower.
Dimensions:
About 1-3 feet in height. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate:
Moderate to fast.
Range:
Southeastern United States west to Texas and south to the Monroe County Keys; West Indies, Mexico and Central America. Very rare in the Monroe County Keys and perhaps absent from the middle Keys.
Habitats:
Marshes and wet pinelands.
Soils:
Wet to moist, moderately well-drained to periodically inundated sandy, limestone, or organic soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements:
Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance:
Moderate; tolerates brackish water or occasional inundation by salt water.
Salt Wind Tolerance:
Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance:
Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements:
Full sun.
Flower Color:
Pale pink to rose.
Flower Characteristics:
Semi-showy.
Flowering Season:
Spring-summer.
Fruit:
Inconspicuous achene.
Wildlife and Ecology:
Nectar plant for gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus) and other butterflies.
Gann, G.D., M.E. Abdo, J.W. Gann, G.D. Gann, Sr., S.W.
Woodmansee, K.A. Bradley, E. Verdon and K.N. Hines. 2005-2008. Natives For Your Neighborhood. http://www.regionalconservation.org.
The Institute for Regional Conservation, Miami.