Havana Scullcap, Scutellaria havanensis, is native to the rocklands of Dade County. It has beautiful half inch blue flowers that attract bees, yet not butterflies, and provide seed to many bird species.
Havana Scullcap has rounded half inch leaves and only grows to about 12 inches tall. This is a drought, not salt, tolerant perennial groundcover that expands via underground rhizomes to form a mat. It prefers average soil although the addition of organic matter will improve its appearance.
Individuals planted 18 inches apart form a border and groupings with odd shapes provide a nice base to show off plants like Lignum Vitae, Joewood, various palms and other specimen plants.
Since it doesn’t compete with its neighbors, it can be mixed with other well behaved plants like Coreopsis, Pineland Petunia, Twinflower, mimosa and low grasses like Pineland Dropseed.
Coontie is one of our most drought tolerant groundcovers. It takes only a few weeks of watering to become fully established. The thick, water storing tap root goes down deep to find moisture.
It is tolerant of salt air, yet not much salt or fresh water flooding, and prefers full sun to partial shade. A freeze may kill the plant, which is why it only ventures to the Georgia border. Zamia pumila is a catch all for all the native species of cycad in Florida. I am a splitter, so please see this interesting description, click Here.
The starch containing root was once pulverized, then washed and fermented several times to break down the hydrocyanic acid that it contains. It was a major source of starch for the Native Americans and early settlers. See this article for more information click Here.
Coontie can be found in the Everglades Rocklands, coastal hammocks and some scrub or scrubby pine habitat. I have seen it occur naturally on the dune in Vero Beach, The Pine Rocklands of Dade County, the scrub trail at Wekiva Springs State Park and the Rafael Sanchez Trail in Martin County.
On this trail it appears under a large old Live Oak. These were small coontie and I have a feeling that the mother plants were placed there by native Americans or settlers… Just a hunch.
Coontie needs a fertile, deep, dry soil. It will not take flooding for long before rotting into mush. New growth comes in May and June which is also when the atala hairstreak butterfly lays its eggs.
If you have this butterfly, you may want to manage the caterpillar population by removing all but a few from each plant. Since this plant only sends up new leaves once a year, it can look pretty raggedy when over grazed by caterpillars.
Male and female plants are separate and should be planted about three feet apart if you want pollination and viable seed. The male cones are six inches long and one inch wide while the female cones are up to eight inches long and three inches wide. Two beetle species pollinate the female cone. This is an ancient plant preceding bee pollinators.
The female cones break apart revealing the orange pulp, which covers each single seed, between September and November. The orange pulp is hard to remove, yet the fruit can be dried and planted an inch deep where you want it to grow.
The pulp will rot away naturally. Germination may take six months and is initiated by the summer rains. Do not water the planted seed, let the rains do it for you.
The orange pulp around each seed looks like candy, so if you have small children remove the female cones before they ripen around September. The taste is bitter though.
Bluejays and mockingbirds eat the seed covering while squirrels eat the covering and seed meat. All will spread a few seed across your and your neighbors’ properties. Do not eat the seed!
Plant in small groupings or large masses. This is a plant that will live for decades and become rather wide as it sprouts pups off the main root. Space at least 2.5 feet to three feet apart and back from walkways.
A natural combination is Pine Trees with Saw Palmetto, Coontie, Little Bluestem Grass, Silver Palm, Chapman’s Cassia, Tetrazygia, Marlberry, Myrsine, Randia, Wild Coffee, Lopsided Indian grass and other Pine Rockland species.
A coastal combination is Horizontal Cocoplum, Spider Lily, Dune Sunflower, Beach Verbena, Bay Cedar, Sea Lavender, Red Salvia, Spotted Beebalm and other dune plants. Just give it some light, although it can tolerate growing under open shrubs.
Narrowleaf Yellowtops is a low, mounding, perennial wildflower found in most of Florida. The masses of yellow flowers occur from March to December in South Florida. These attract bees, butterflies, beetles and other pollinators.
Do not confuse this with the invasive Coastal Plain Yellowtops, Flaveria bidentis. This plant is from South America and is spreading through our coastal areas and other parts of the world. For a good description of this plant click here. And for great pictures, Click here.
This invasive plant has three veins, serrated margins and some hairiness. The native Yellowtop has one prominent vein, entire (untoothed) margins and no hairiness. The leaves of the native are very narrow in the Florida Keys, yet tend to be a bit wider north of them.
I have found them growing along lake edges and along the coast near the dune line. They are tolerant of salt air, dry soil and do well during drought. The two foot high mounds make a colorful addition to the summer garden.
Cut them back to one foot tall when the flowers go to seed and the plant will grow back and flower again. Otherwise it will look weedy and may die as it puts all of its energy into seed production.
Be careful when you cut the stems. Wear gloves and long sleeves because the sap will make your skin itch. This takes about ten minutes and requires thorough washing and a half hour wait for the itch to subside.
Mix with Southern Beebalm, Salvia, Blue Curls, Spiderlily, Spiderwort, Pineland Croton, Sea Lavender, Seaside Goldenrod, Bay Cedar and Mimosa. It can even compete with Dune Sunflower for space.
Be aware that if you let it go to seed, there will soon be many seedlings coming up. This is good if you want to keep them going but a bit annoying if they get thrown about by a mower or dog running through them.
See page nine of this site for more information click here.
Wild Allamanda
Pentalinon luteum
Our native Wild Allamanda is a vine with opposite, oval leaves and two inch yellow flowers produced from June to Fall. The vines can grow twelve or more feet long, yet will be bushier if cut back.
Do not confuse this with the Yellow Allamanda sold in stores which is bushy and native to South America. Click here for more information.
Our native Allamanda is found from the coastline of St. Lucie County through the Florida Keys. It is very tolerant of salt air and drought and prefers dry soil and full sun. Moist soil is tolerated, yet not needed. It does very well inland on a trellis or other support.
Since it is in the Oleander Family, Apocynaceae, it should not be eaten and the sap should be washed off immediately or skin irritation will occur. Keep kids away from it.
The polka-dot wasp moth larva eats the leaves. This is orange with soft hairs. The adult is the same moth seen laying eggs on oleander and mimics a spider wasp with an orange abdomen and blue wings. Funny how the scape moth up north and the atala hairstreak butterfly also have this natural warning color combination.
If you are looking for a vine that will cover a trellis or shrubs and trees on the south edge of a planting, this is one of the best. I have one that has grown up into a Gumbo Limbo and pours down with many yellow flowers. This makes the Gumbo look like it has yellow flowers.
Wild Allamanda occurs on the edge of salt marshes in the Keys and among the Saw Palmetto, Redbay and other plants just back of the dune as you travel north to St. Lucie County. I have also seen it in the shady parts of Boynton Hammock, yet there are few flowers in low light.
Golden Canna is also called Bandana (not Banana) of the Everglades. It is found from Georgia thru Florida and west to Texas. Winter growth is ratty looking in South Florida due to the halt of new growth and in northern areas it is killed to the ground by frost.
This is a colorful, tropical looking three foot tall plant for lake edges and retention ponds. It spreads by underground rhizomes and will produce a large mass in little time.
Bees nectar on the flowers and the canna, also called Brazilian skipper, butterfly both nectar’s on the flowers and lays its eggs on the young leaves. The caterpillar of this skipper has transparent skin enabling kids to see the breathing tubes and inner guts for a neat science lesson. For more info on this butterfly, click here.
The roots and young leaves may be edible, but check out this link, click here and do your own research before putting anything in your mouth. This article puts Canna in the Ginger order, although it is in the Cannaceae family.
I dug up a thick piece of root, cleaned it and put it on the barbie along with some fresh iguana for twenty minutes. After it cooled, I cut it open and ate the starchy insides which tasted like Jerusalem Artichoke.
Next camping trip, you may want to try Canna, Cattail (sprouts, roots, or young pollen spikes), the tender tips of Smilax and other edible wild plants to go along with the fish you catch.
Canna is often used in mitigation plantings along lake or pond edges. The soil needs to be black with organic matter. That is often at the northwest corner of the lake where floating plant material is blown in by our dominant southeast breeze.
Otherwise, you will need to fertilize, which is not wise to do near waterways. The idea is to plant Golden Canna to capture nutrients from lawns before they enter the waterway.
A low spot in the yard can be covered with compost or lots of leaves, grass clippings etc. which will decompose into muck.
Plant in this moist, rich soil using Joepye Weed, Prairie Iris, Duck Potato, Buttonbush, Swamp Hibiscus, Saltmarsh Mallow, various ferns, native grasses, Narrowleaf Sunflower, Florida Lily, American Crinum Lily, Meadow Beauty and Bloodroot.
The above plants can be used on a lake edge from the waterline to the grassline. Pickerelweed,Thalia, Bulrush, Waterlilies and Spikerush can be planted in up to two feet of water.
These will extend the planting from just a few to many feet into the lake. The waterline may rise two or more feet above normal during heavy rains and drown the lower level of plants.
This is why I usually plant in six inches or less of water and let the plants creep down into the lake themselves.
Make an island 20 feet out from the shore and landscape it with these plants along with Pondapple and Cypress. With a water depth of two or more feet, you will have a great nesting site for herons and other wading birds.
It is hard for raccoons and other predators to swim out to the island. They are vulnerable to alligator attack.
Wild Sage or Buttonsage is found naturally along the coast from the Florida Keys to Brevard County. It is also found in the West Indies and Puerto Rico. This light silvery colored shrub is tolerant of salt air and drought and likes moderately fertile, sandy soil that doesn’t flood.
The one inch rounded leaves are soft and smell like sage when crushed. The flowers are white with a yellow center and some having a pink blush. The berries are purple or magenta. The flowers attract butterflies and the berries attract birds.
The fruit are considered edible when ripe and may be poisonous, like Lantana camara, when green. Dogs, cats and livestock can be poisoned by Lantana camara, so Wild Sage may be poisonous too. For information on its toxicity, click here.
Wild Sage is a rounded shrub about three feet tall that should be used in butterfly gardens along with Florida Keys Thoroughwort, Bloodberry, Firebush, Pineland Privet, Florida Boxwood, Inkwood, Hercules Club and Wild Lime-which needs lots of space around it.
Make sure you are buying this native species and not one of the “naturalized”-invasive species. None of the low orange or white flowered species are native and most are very invasive. Just buy from a reputable native nursery and do your research; even native plant growers get confused sometimes and may sell you a “native orange lantana”.
There are three species of Twinflower in Florida. The Common Twinflower is the most widely used and is naturally found throughout the Southeastern U.S. down to Indian River County. It prefers higher ground and slightly moist soil in places like Wekiva Springs State Park and the Central Ridge. Click for more info.
This species has small oval leaves, blue flowers and is only a foot or less tall. It spreads by underground roots close to the plant so that a nice tight mass is formed over time that lasts for many years.
Although the flowers aren’t very showy, they, along with the dense foliage make a nice border or groundcover. It works well under a specimen tree like Lignum Vitae. Weeding is fairly easy because the dense growth excludes most weeds.
Try mixing with Havana Scullcap, Fog Fruit, Silkgrass, Mimosa, Beach Verbena, Rustweed and Seaside Joyweed for a very low groundcover. Since it doesn’t climb, other wildflowers can be placed near it. No Dune Sunflowers nearby though. No maintenance other than occasional weeding is needed.
There is a very small species called Rockland Twinflower or Pineland Snakeherb, Dyschoriste angusta That is found in the Pine Rocklands of Dade County. It can also be found rarely up to Martin County in Pinelands.
This has very small linear leaves and blue flowers and makes a nice mat around rocks, between pavers, along a walkway and other tight spaces. Click for more info.
The third species is Swamp Twinflower or Swamp Snakeherb, Dyschoriste humistrata. This is found in moist soil near wetlands in central and north Florida. For its range Click here.
I have found it in Myakka River State Park near the campgrounds. Use this in moist soil such as the wet portion of your swale or along the edge of a Cypress or other swamp. If you irrigate often, try it in a moist flower garden. Click for more info,
All three are a larval host for the common buckeye butterfly. In fact, we raised several buckeye caterpillars to adults in July on the oblongifolia species. The eggs had been laid on this plant.
Seaside Joyweed
Alternanthera maritima
Seaside Joyweed is found along the coast mixed in with Sea Oats from St. Lucie County thru the Florida Keys. It has one inch rounded leaves that are shiny and often with a reddish or coppery tone.
This spreads by surface runners that root every few inches. On the beach it grows as a long runner only an inch or two high. Yet, in partial shade it will grow 12 inches tall as side shoots point upwards.
Soil conditions are dry to moist, well drained, moderately fertile sand. Full sun to light shade are best. Salt air is fine, but salt water flooding is not. This plant does very well in inland plantings and only requires occasional cutting to keep it out of walkways.
The picture is of a planting below the west side of a native Strangler Fig with a building to the south. Common Snowberry is shooting upward in the background. Click here. It gets dappled morning sun and some direct afternoon sun. Since this is in the Pigweed or Amaranth family, the flowers are dry tufts followed by tiny seeds.
This can be mixed with Sunshine Mimosa, Fogfruit, Goats foot and Seaside Morning Glory, Beach Verbena, Sea Purslane and Golden Creeper kept low for a groundcover mix under 12 inches tall.
Of course, you can throw in Gaillardia, Salvia, Coontie, Seaside Goldenrod, Spiderwort, Spiderlily and Beach Elder for the look of a Coastal Prairie. Both forms of the Pineland Snowberry, although not salt tolerant, will mix in well too. Click here, and here, to learn more about these two forms.
This is one of our most common ferns found throughout most of Florida in swamps and moist pinelands. It is normally two to three feet tall in sunny locations, yet may rarely reach six feet in deep shade. It is also called marsh fern, yet that name goes to Thelypteris palustris.
Look for a solid row of brown spores, versus dots, on either side of the lower midvein to tell it apart from the Sword Ferns. The plant spreads by an underground rhizome forming a compact colony. The foliage is shiny and has reddish new growth.
Plant around slash pine, cypress, red maple and other wetland trees and shrubs. The combination of wild coffee bordered by this fern is striking. As the colony increases, break off portions and plant in new locations making sure to water until established.
I have found Swamp Fern in sites that flood for a week or more and also near the top of trails where the soil is barely moist. Flower fertilizer may be needed to get the plants established, yet they should be on their own within three months.
Long periods of drought will cause the leaves to die back to the root system, yet with rain they should return. Better to just choose a moist site or irrigate as needed. In the picture above, the site is watered once or twice a week, only during extended drought.
This planting around a bird bath looks great, yet keep cats out as they will ambush your birds from the cover. Mix with Marsh, Hottentot, Giant Leatherleaf and Goldenfoot Fern. Also, Prairie Iris, Yellow Canna and shade tolerant native grasses like Coastal Foxtail.
If you mix with Sword Ferns, these will need to be planted several feet away to prevent crowding. A mass of Swamp Ferns along the foundation mixed with shrubs and wildflowers will produce a lovely effect.
This is another groundcover that can be used where grass is shaded out. Why fight a wet to moist low spot in the yard when you can easily make it beautiful with this and other ferns and wetland groundcovers?
Sunshine mimosa is also called Powderpuff and can be found from St. Lucie County Florida through Georgia and west to Texas. For a map Click here. The stems lie flat on the ground and root every inch or two.
I have found this growing along State Road 70 near I95 where it follows the St. Lucie River floodplain and also on the beach on the west side of A1A in St Augustine. This was during a drought when all other plants around it were brown.
Mimosa, which I call Mori Vivi, can take an amazing amount of abuse from foot traffic to having cars occasionally parked on it. The fine leaves curl up when touched, which fascinates adults.
The one inch round pink fragrant flowers on a thin stalk are a favorite for little girls and big men to make miniature bouquets out of. They’re nice to put in a perfume bottle and set in the bathroom for guests.
The only things this plant doesn’t like are long term flooding and shade. It will crawl 50 feet away from a shady spot to find sunlight. Ten feet of growth a year with branching can be expected. If planted three feet apart the ground will be covered in a year.
Lay a four inch layer of mulch down first and push some aside as you plant. In one week the new growth will be spreading across the surface. You will need to hand pull weeds to keep a monoculture. If you don’t want the extra work, just plant in your lawn and mow as usual or weed eat taller weeds.
During the winter there will be no new growth and the old leaves will almost disappear. But, first thing in the spring the new, light green growth and flowers will brighten your mood.
Bees and some butterflies visit the flowers and the little yellow butterfly lays its eggs on the new growth. There are no thorns and the plant won’t trip you. If used as a border, plant three or more feet from the edge and cut runners that creep out into the roadway or sidewalk.
Mori Vivi is well behaved with its neighbors and can be planted under any clumping flowers or shrubs. It will not clamor over them. Try planting along a lake edge or mixing with your favorite wildflowers. Dune Sunflower is not a good companion due to its spreading growth habit.
How about Gaillardia, Fog Fruit, Seaside Goldenrod, Spiderwort, Coontie, Southern Beebalm, Coreopsis, Twinflower, Pineland Petunia and Havana Scullcap? It also makes a nice groundcover under Lignum Vitae and low shrubs like Joewood. Just make sure it gets sunlight.
