STORY BEHIND THE ART OF PAULINE GOLDSMITH

Wildly Exquisite: Florida’s Native Plants

Florida Buttonwood Tree

Conocarpus erectus

During my daily walk through the leaf laden streets of old Coconut Grove, the original Florida settlement of my area, predating Miami by many years, you cannot fail to notice the abundance of this low-branching, often multi-trunked, shrubby, evergreen tree: the native buttonwood, Conocarpus erectus.

In of itself, it is an inconspicuous tree, growing to 20-40 feet high with a good spread of 20–30 feet, making it an ideal street-sidewalk tree. However, on its own it will often take on a picturesque, contorted appearance when exposed to constant seashore winds, creating an extremely attractive specimen.

It is native to Florida, the Caribbean, Central and South America and even the Galapagos Islands. In other words, a hardiness zone 10B-11. The oblong, smooth, evergreen leaves are a darkish-green, with no change in seasonal color. The small, greenish flowers, like the tree itself, are inconspicuous and appear in dense clusters on round, compact, cone-like heads that are arranged in branched panicles - males are on one tree and females on another – in spring to early fall. The tree is a host plant for several species of butterflies and moths, including the martial hairstreak, and is a source of nectar for others.

The flowers are followed by a bunch of 1/2-inch, cone-like, hard red-brown segmented fruits. Although the fruit is year-round, it is not particularly a wildlife attractor, except perhaps the fallen ones are useful to opportunists. It is this hard, segmented ball of fruit that attracts me to the buttonwood, and I can often be seen in contortions taking photographs from various angles to capture them.

The bark is scaly and very ridged, making it a perfect place for native epiphytes to find a home, giving it a cornucopia appearance with several air plants in evidence. The wood is, in fact, extremely strong and was formerly used for firewood, charcoal making, and cabinetwork. The density of the wood gives a slow burn with a lot of heat, which makes it perfect for smoking meats and fish. The Seminole tribal culture (Creek migrants to Florida in the 18th and 19th century) used buttonwood to make dye, as well as fuel for cooking.

This is a tough old tree! The trees are resilient and long-lasting, and exceptionally salt tolerant. The buttonwood is ideal for seaside plantings because of its high tolerance of full sun, sandy soils, and salty conditions. However, it also tolerates brackish areas and alkaline soils, thriving in the broken shade and wet soils of hammocks, and can be commonly found on the landward margins of mangrove swamps. More importantly, it can withstand the rigors of tropical storms and hurricanes, which makes it a durable planting in ocean front situations, street sidewalks or parking lots.

In the meantime, the shutters are twitching as my neighbors’ remark ‘here she comes again that lady taking photographs of our tree”!

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