Florida Native Plant Society Blog

By Mary Ann Gibbs When my husband, Tucker, and I bought our house in Miami some 16 years ago, we inherited a yard that was mostly grass with five large melaleuca trees, several Queen palms and a Surinam cherry hedge. We tore all of that out and evolved our yard into what it is today – a haven for people and wildlife. There is a sense of beauty and peace in the garden where we can observe the birds, butterflies, bees, squirrels and other critters that share our space with us. A more than 15-year-old lignam-vitae tree on left is the standout in our new hedge planted with many young native trees and bushes, including here coral-bean, golden dewdrop, satinwood and Florida Keys blackbead. Growing up the chicken wire around a fishtail palm to the right of the lignam-vitae is passion vine, a larval host for heliconian butterflies. The bromeliads in the front will come out as the young slow-growing natives fill up and out. We have never liked grass in our yard. We replaced m...

The lgnum vitae ( Gualacum sanctum ). This must be a special tree with two Latin names. Actually, this IS a special tree for many reasons. It grows slowly--about an inch per year. The wood is so dense that it sinks in water. Its wood was highly prized for propellers and judges' gavels. Because it's resinous, the wood was also good for ball bearings and hinges--they are self lubricating. The resin has medicinal properties: it reduces inflammation, suppresses coughs, and was used to treat syphilis. Because of all its uses, it was widely harvested and because of its extremely slow growth, the tree is rare in most of the Florida Keys, its native habitat. Here's more information and photos of the tree on Floridata.com . It has amazingly blue flowers. But on Lignumvitae Key most of the population was spared from the harvest because it was privately held and accessible only by boat. This key is now a state park. It's open on Thursday through Sunday and tours of the h...