Trellis or fence

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.

Specimen tree.

Salt tolerance has not been studied but it has been recorded (in New England) in salt marshes, suggesting tolerance of at least brackish water and likely tolerance of some salt spray. Information is lacking regarding pollination for the species. However, the family exhibits flowers that are hermaphrodite, dioecious, or gynodioecious (fairly commonly), and is most often pollinated by insects, (bees, butterflies & moths, or flies).  Also has cleistogamous flowers,so self pollination may also occur(Collins 1976 as cited in New England Native Plant Trust, 2002). Wildflower garden. It blooms early before most of the other wildflowers.

Shade tree.

The wood is weak. Shade tree. Semi-evergreen with leaves falling just before new leaves emerge.

This plant is considered to be Threatened in Florida. Please preserve in the landscape and acquire new plants in an environmentally sound manner (seed or nursery-grown plants). Good as a buffer plant. Could be used as an informal hedge.

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.

The name Walter's viburnum honors Thomas Walter (1740-89), English-born planter of South Carolina, who described this species in his Flora Caroliniana. Specimen plant, hedge or screen plant. Can be allowed to form a thicket, sheared, or kept pruned into a tree.  Fast growing.

Rear of garden as a screen.  Native meadows.

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

Wood is dense (hard). Listed as Threatened by the FDACS. Screen plant. Specimen shrub or small tree -- you can choose based on how you opt to prune (prune, don't shear).

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.

The author treats this as a friendly weed. Pull them if where there is something more desirable. Back of a wildflower garden in a casual setting. Grown en-masse, this plant can be used as a temporary groundcover.

Wildflower garden or butterfly garden. A number of cultivars exist, but none are grown widely in Florida.

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.

Its twisting shape makes it an interesting specimen tree.