Blooms all year. Recruits readily in the garden from seed. Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also butterfly gardens.

Endemic to Florida. Wildflower garden,

Despite the appearance of the county-based range map, the actual range is limited to the coastal areas. Wildflower garden. Groundcover.

Multistemmed shrub that can form small thickets. Plant as a screen, hedge, or background plant.

Requires a reliable cold period to persist. In most of Florida it can be treated as an annual in gardens. Listed as Endangered by the State of Florida.  While this is a common garden plant in the north, its range barely reaches Florida, and it is rare and exists only in a highly specific habitate in the wild. Works well in almost any garden with mixed wildflower species. North of Florida, this species is sometimes planted as single-species mass plantings.

Wild cotton is a rare plant; it needs protection against missuses and protection against removal from natural populations. Use as a short-lived "shrub". Dies back with freezing but will re-sprout from the roots. Use as a specimen plant.

Both the common and scientific genus names refer to the lizard-like shape of the drooping flower head. This is a wetland plant. It can form dense patches making good groundcover in wet areas.