Small to medium tree often with somewhat scruffy form. Retain in a natural setting if present.

Background shrub.

Restoration. Backdrop for a pond. Useful for water quality treatment.

Forms a low thicket with many sprouts from  underground stems.

This is a wetland plant, but it will do well once established in a moist garden setting. Moist wildflower gardens. Easily grown along streams.

Sawgrass is a sedge, not a grass. It was this plant that Marjory Stoneman Douglas referred to in her seminal work: "The Everglades: River of Grass." A second species (C. mariscoides) occurs in a limited area in north Florida.  Its uses and culture are similar. Typically used in wetland restoration. Also useful for planting in brackish settings where an emergent aquatic is desired. Spreads rapidly to cover large areas.

Moist wildflower garden. Makes a good mass planting on the edge of a pond or ditch.

Range includes areas usually relatively near the coast in Southeastern United States west to Texas, north to North Carolina, and south to the Monroe County Keys; and Mexico,  the Neotropics and Bermuda. Rare in the northern parts of its range and in the Florida keys. Naturalistic areas especially near the coast.

It is difficult to know the native range of this plant in Florida as it has been widely planted on roadsides across much of the state at least since the 1700s. Cultivated flower beds, roadside wildflower plantings, wildflower garden. Typically grown as an annual though some plants may persist for several years.

Ground cover in  wet to moist areas.

Don't confuse this native with the non-native tropical or scarlet milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), that is often sold in big box stores, which has red and yellow flowers. Wet wildflower garden.

This is a rare plant.  Please acquire responsibly (don't steal from the wild). Not common in the nursery trade (we are aware of one North Florida nursery that sells it). Back up flower beds

Rarely grown in Florida. In wet places, it can be planted as a specimen plant for winter interest. When it loses its leaves in the fall, just the berries left on the stems create a striking display.

Typically not used in landscape settings. However, if appropriate management can be provided (fire), then seed-bearing plants have considerable landscape value; non-seed-bearing plants are good groundcover. For an interesting article on this plant see the Florida Wildflower Foundation blog. Restoration areas. Naturalistic landscapes.