It is listed as endangered by the state of Florida and as critically imperiled in South Florida by The Institute for Regional Conservation. Specimen shrub. Foliage is shiny, attractive. Grown mostly for its interesting, translucent fruits.

Retain if present. Can be used as part of a screen in a dry site setting.

The genus name honors the English botanist William Vernon, who did fieldwork in North America. Back of a moist wildflower garden. Can also use on the edges of natural or created wetlands and streams.

Moist wildflower garden. Wetland garden. Plant in full sun and give it plenty of room and plant behind shorter plants.

Water gardens and pond edges.  Moist wildflower gardens.

Moist wildflower garden.

There are two subspecies in Florida with somewhat different but overlapping distributions. Culture and uses in the landscape are similar. It is best to use local sources. Small wildflower. Typically seen in spring or after rain. Grows in small tufts. Plant in low border on intermixed with a groundcover. Inconspicuous when not in bloom. Individual plants are short-lived perennials, but clumps persist for many years.

Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Similar in general appearance to St. Augustine grass. To look nice as a turf grass, seashore paspalum requires water and fertilizer and needs frequent mowing. High tolerance for heat and salt and will tolerate some shade. Tolerates some traffic and can recover quickly from moderate wear during spring and summer, but not suited to heavy uses such as ball fields. There is question on how appropriate it is to consider the cultivated varieties native. The range in Florida is essentially the sandy coastal areas.  A few other herbarium specimens appear to have been gathered from disturbed areas.  Given that this species is being used as a turf grass, we can expect it to occasionally occur outside of its historic settings. Used as a turf grass or in a wet meadow.

Specimen plant, screen plant, understory tree/shrub.

Background shrub.

Endemic to Florida. Wildflower garden,

Useful in coastal restoration or retained along a coastal shoreline for stabilization. Salt marsh coastal stabilizer. Low dune stabilizer. Groundcover in coastal settings.

Seeds float and can be dispersed by water. Noted as a sand stabilizer being one of the first plants to colonize active dunes. Pan-tropical. Makes a nice groundcover in an informal dry yard. In nature, it is an important stabilizer of beach dunes.

For best results, use species naturally found in your area Wildflower garden. Most species bloom best if in light shade or sun, though it does depend on species.

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

The scientific name Befaria racemosa was apparently an early transcription error. The genus is named after an 18th century Spanish botanist by the name of Bejar. Documented bees include Agapostemon splendens, Augochlorella aurata, A. gratiosa, Augochloropsis sumptuosa, Anthidiellum perplexum, Anthidium maculifrons, Megachile brevis pseudobrevis, M. mendica, M. petulans, Bombus impatiens and B. pennsylvanicus (Deyrup et al. 2002). Naturalistic settings. Conserve in residual natural settings if possible.

The common name refers to the pliable twigs. Use as a border plant, foundation plant, or understory shrub in a shady, moist setting.

Given that this is short-lived (biennial) and difficult to transplant or grow from seed, this is perhaps best encouraged in places where it grows naturally.  Minimizing competition from other plants, and perhaps burning the garden area, may be useful.  This plant appears to have a seedbank with seeds that may sprout over an extended period of years if conditions are right. The range of this plant in Florida appears to be disjunct though how much of this is due to site conditions and how much could be an artifact of forestry practices is unknown. Wildflower garden where it can be used as a specimen plant.

Wildflower or butterfly garden.

Groundcover or border plant in shady areas.