Citharexylum spinosum
fiddlewood
Verbenaceae
Plant Specifics
Form:
shrub
Size:
12 - 25 feet ft tall by to 12 feet ft wide
Life Span:
long-lived perennial
Flower Color:
white
Fruit Color:
young fruits orange, mature to brown
Phenology:
Evergreen. Dioecious. Flowers and fruits throughout the year. Moderately long lived (Nelson 2003)
Noted For:
Showy Flowers, Showy Fruits, Aroma/Showy Fruitsagrance, Hurricane Wind Resistance
Landscaping
Recommended Uses:
Wonderful in a mixed hedge, can be sheared to desired height, but the flowers and berries are too good to be missed. Excellent specimen plant. This plant is naturally multi-stemmed; to form a tree, the stems must be continually reduced to one until a trunk is formed.
Considerations:
Light:
Full Sun, Part Sun
Moisture Tolerance:
Somewhat moist, no flooding ---- to ---- Somewhat long very dry periods
Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:
Unknown
Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
Soil or Other Substrate:
Sand
Suitable to Grow In:
9B,10A,10B,11
Ecology
Wildlife:
Pollinators, Butterflies, Caterpillars, Birds, Mammals
Larval host for fiddlewood leafroller moth ( Epicorsia oedipodalis ) ( Institute for Regional Conservation).
Nectar plant for butterflies.
Attracts bee pollinators.
Berries eaten by many species of bids and other wildlife.
Native Habitats:
Dry sites. Pinelands, maritime and sub-tropical or tropical hammocks
