This species is almost endemic to Florida.  Its range overlaps into southern Georgia and southeastern Alabama. The range includes all of Florida though it is  only going to occur where soil, drainage, and fire conditions are appropriate.

Retain if present. This and other members of the genus are hemiparasites and not easy to grow unless you happen to also have appropriate hosts present. Appropriate burn management will help retain this plant in naturalistic settings. This is very showy in fall.

Foliage fragrant when crushed. Bayberry is an actinorhizal plant: its roots feature nitrogen fixing nodules formed in symbiosis with the nitrogen fixing actinobacteria Frankia. Thus it is tolerant of nitrogen-poor, acidic soils such as wetlands and dunes.(Widipedia). The range is disjunct within Florida. Screen or hedge plant. Deciduous to semi-evergreen.

Specimen tree. Woodlands.

Rarely grown, likely since it is a poisonous annual with prickles.  Invasive in parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia. This is a personal favorite of one of the authors -- it grows and bloom early and attracts lots of insects.  The only issue is the prickles, so I wear gloves when weeding around it.  It reseeds readily so long as there is good sun and  bare ground where the seeds land. Wildflower garden. This plant will bloom in late winter through spring displaying its large flowers when little else is blooming.

Specimen plant, hedge plant. Large shrub to small tree. Large, showy, shiny leaves.