The tuber of this plant is edible and very crisp; it adds texture to salads.  The tuber has a segmented appearance reminiscent of a rattlesnake tail. , Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray , Considertions, Quite aggressive in the landscape and difficult to get rid of because of its deep tubers. , Habitat, Moist-wet disturbed sites. Flatwoods. , Did You Know?, Showy flowers Attracts bees and butterflies.

According to Kew Gardens, it is from Central America and probably Cuba and Florida.   After going through the photos and labels for specimens in the S , Tolerance, Unknown Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray. , Considertions, Noted for being weedy. , Habitat, Disturbed. Old orange groves, pasture, roadsides. May occur naturally along the west FL coast including shell mounds and dunes . All records for in , Did You Know?, Showy flowers

Retain if present. Can be used as part of a screen in a dry site setting. , Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray , Considertions, Slow growing. , Habitat, Dry-moist sites. Cutthroat seeps, scrub, scrubby flatwoods, scrub. , Did You Know?, Showy flowers Attracts bees.  The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Lyonia fruticosa at Archbold Biologica