Younger specimens have a conical shape, but older trees tend to flatten out at the top. In some areas, the strangler fig (Ficus aurea)has strangled many mature bald cypress trees--The Corkscrew Swamp is an example of this. Can be used as a specimen tree, planted in floodplain areas, or planted in relatively moist uplands. Large rain gardens and bioswales. Tolerant of root disturbance, so a candidate for use as a street/parking lot tree.

Citrus County specimen does not come up in the FLAS database search, so the County is not included on our map. Specimen plant in moist shade gardens. Grow it on downed logs, lower trunks of cypress, or on rock. Needs to be in a moist, humid environment.

This is a rare species and it should only be acquired from reputable plant nurseries. Some botanists have declared this endemic species to be a synonym for false rosemary (C. canescens), but since the populations are widely separated, we are treating them separately. Can be used as a medium-level groundcover or border plant.

Flowers tend to appear in spring or after a significant rainfall. Otherwise inconspicuous. Small wildflower or plant in with other low groundcovers. Foliage is very fine and the plant is inconspicuous except when in bloom.

Use as a small specimen shrub in moist areas. Can also be used in floodplains.

Specimen tree.

Rarely gown likely because of its need for moist sites. Shrub in an informal, moist garden and would make a good backdrop for a bog garden, or a good plant to plant along a moist woodland edge.

Coreopsis is the State wildflower. Cultivated flower beds, wildflower gardens, meadows, and butterfly gardens.

Litsea aestivalis is listed as Endangered by the State of Florida.  Since that listing, the laurel wilt disease has come to Florida, and is known to kill this species.   It is likely best to plant this plant only if the stock is known to be disease free, and only if planting it is not likely to provide new hosts for the disease.  As with any Endangered species, please acquire only from reputable nurseries with appropriate licences to grown and sell this species. The documented range of this species suggests that the occurrence is sparse, but fairly broad in the northern half of Florida.  It is also a plant that is easily overlooked and that may have a wider range than that suggested by documentation from herbarium specimens given that much of its habitat has likely been eliminated by forestry practices.  It is also probably that the range is becoming sparser due to laurel wilt. Wetland areas where the goal is to attract birds.

Rear of garden as a screen.  Native meadows.

Small specimen plant in wet areas.  Does well in bog gardens and rain gardens or bioswales.

Multi-stemmed. A single stem is a curiosity. A large multi-stemmed plant is a long-blooming wonder. Despite the common name, this species has sweet-smelling flowers. The range of this species extends from central Texas east and north into southern New England.  It is represented in Florida by a few isolated occurrences in northwest Florida. Specimen shrub

Rarely grown but of good potential for a dry native wildflower garden. Wildflower garden. When not flowering, the plant is a low-growing rosette of leaves that are white on the bottom. It flowers in the fall.

The Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis)is a very destructive wood-boring beetle native to Asia. It was discovered in North America in July 2002, and has become established in Michigan, New York, Ohio and Ontario (Canada). Millions of ash trees have been killed in the northeastern US. Although the borer has not been detected in Florida (Dec. 2011), the presence of ash trees and the ongoing movement of wood, trees and cargo into the state make Florida an area where the beetle could potentially become established. Your help is needed to detect possible infestations so they can be quickly eradicated...if you see it, contact the Florida Division of Forestry. Appropriate for edges of lakes and ponds. Will also grow as a shade tree in uplands, but white ash has better form. Can be used in settings with soil disturbance.

This  little plant produces two flowers with ovaries that fuse into a single fruit. Typically grown as a curiosity. This is a very small plant that acts as a groundcover with the caveat that the plants are very small. Keep it in a natural forested setting or establish in such an area.

Leaves are very small and arranged in circles around the stem at each node giving it a banded appearance. This is a fern ally and reproduces by spores. Water gardens, edges of retention ponds, rain gardens or bioswales.

The herbarium specimen from Polk County almost certainly has a wrong location.  Lithia is in Hillsborough County and the most likely translation of a wrongly written latitude and longitude is also in Hillsborough County -- but the exact location would have been agricultural in 1962. Hedges, back borders. Blooms in summer.