Discover Florida Nature
It's time to explore the natural Florida
 Florida
Nature: Native Butterfly Attracting Plants (2) |
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Browse through our alphabetical list of native Florida plants that
encourage butterflies into your garden, and find the perfect choices for
your Florida butterfly garden! Plants that have an asterisk beside their
name are especially high in nectar. Buttonbush
(Cephalanthus occidentalis)*- Buttonbush is a woody shrub, 3-10
feet tall, that occasionally grows into a small tree. It has shiny
dark-green spear-or egg-shaped pointed leaves 3 to 6 inches long. The
leaves are opposite or whorled in 3's or 4's along the stem. Flowers of
buttonbush are easily identified by their greenish-white tube flowers in
dense ball-shaped clusters about 1 inch in diameter. The long-lasting,
unusual blossoms are white or pale-pink, one-inch globes. Subsequent
rounded masses of nutlets persist through the winter. Seed heads are
brown. Buttonbush is a handsome ornamental suited to wet soils and is
also a honey plant.
Ducks and other water birds and
shorebirds consume the seeds. in it's native Florida environment,
the buttonbush may be found in swamps,
around ponds and margins of streams throughout the state. Buttonbush
grows well in sand, loam, clay, limestone, and moist, poor drainage or
standing water is okay with this butterfly attracting plant.  Clover
(Trifolium spp)- Clovers, depending on species, may be annuals or
perennials. Typically, clovers are fairly low-growing, herbaceous
plants. The leaves are divided into three leaflets which are attached to
the petiole at or near the same point. Blossoms usually occur in
ball-like clusters (sometimes in clusters of just a few flowers) and may
be pink, red, white, or yellow, depending on the clover species. In
lawns, clovers can form dense patches, crowding out turfgrasses. They do
not withstand traffic well. Clovers can also be desirable plants in
lawns due to their nitrogen-fixing ability. Increases in clover may
indicate soils are low in nitrogen. Bees and butterflies are attracted
to the clover blossom. Clovers commonly grow in fields, meadows, and
other sites on well-drained soils. They may be included in seed mixes
for lawns, but are sometimes considered to be lawn weeds. Some species
of adult butterflies which visit Red Clover flowers include:
Monarch,
Eastern Black Swallowtail,
Painted Lady, and
Red Admiral. Firebush (Hamelia
patens)- Firebush...the name says it all! This tropical shrub is known
for two attributes. First, the plant shows colors that would make any
blaze proud. And second, it's the only plant that I know which actually
performs better the closer it gets to spontaneous combustion! Firebush
is a showy, fast-growing, semi-woody evergreen shrub that can get up to
15 feet tall under ideal conditions, but usually stays much smaller. It
has whorled leaves, usually with three but occasionally as many as seven
at each node. The firebush hails from South Florida, the West Indies,
and Central and South America. In its native habitat, Firebush is known
more for its herbal properties than for its ornamental value. Throughout
the year, firebush produces showy terminal clusters (cymes) of bright
reddish-orange or scarlet tubular flowers. Firebush is a valuable
addition to butterfly and
hummingbird gardens,
and in south Florida is often planted in wildlife gardens with other
native shrubs such as American
beautyberry, coral bean and
wild coffee. Firebush is salt tolerant and will grow in any kind of
soil as long as it is well drained.
 Goldenrod
(Solidago ordora)- Sweet goldenrod is native to the eastern
United States, from Nova Scotia south to Florida and west to Arkansas
and Texas. It occurs in sandhills, open xeric hammocks, and similar thin
dry woodlands Goldenrod rapidly grows back in increased abundance after
fire or site disturbance, so it often makes a showy display on a newly
cleared site. Sweet goldenrod is often grown in wildflower gardens,
meadows, and naturalistic borders. Sweet goldenrod is a perennial with
2-5 ft stems arising from short rhizomes. The leaves of the goldenrod
are 1-4 inches long and smell like licorice when crushed. In late
summer, densely crowded golden-yellow flowers appear in branched
clusters at the tops of the stems. The individual blossoms are arranged
in rows along the upper sides of the flower head branchlets. Fuzzy pale
gray seedheads containing tiny nutlets replace the blossoms later in the
season. The leaves make a flavorful herbal tea. It is also used for a
variety of medicinal purposes.
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