Conocarpus erectus
This evergreen coastal tree native to Florida is highly salt- and drought-tolerant, stabilizes shorelines and provides wildlife habitat, has silky blue-green to silvery-gray leaves and distinctive button-like fruits, and typically reaches about 4–20 m in height.
Common Names
Buttonwood, Green Buttonwood, Button Mangrove
Summary
Buttonwood is a Florida-native evergreen tree often with a low-branching, multi-trunk form, reaching about 30–45 ft tall and 20–30 ft wide with a vase-shaped to spreading crown. It features dark green to silvery leaves 1–4 in long, inconspicuous greenish flowers in dense cone-like heads, and small button-like fruits about 1/2 in that persist year-round; the trunk bears gray, smooth bark aging to scaly ridges. It is drought- and aerosol-salt-tolerant, tolerates clay, loam, and sand soils, and thrives in full sun and coastal winds, making it well suited for seaside landscapes and urban settings as a specimen plant, hedge, screen, shade tree, or windbreak.
Cultivation favors full sun and well-drained soils; hardiness zones 10B–11; regular establishment watering followed by drought tolerance when mature. Spacing of about 15 ft on center promotes a closed canopy; pruning maintains strong structure; pest pressure includes sooty mold inland from coast, while major diseases are not a concern. Common landscape uses include streetscapes, parking-lot islands, hedges, screens, and specimen plantings, with coastal resilience and wind tolerance contributing to seaside plantings and urban hardscapes. Propagation can be by seeds or cuttings.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
15-66 feet
Spread
20-30 feet
Hardiness Zones
Zones 10B-11
Sunlight Requirements
Ideally full sun. Tolerates partial shade.
Soil Type
Well-drained sandy soil
Soil Drainage
Well-drained soil
Soil pH
5-7, slightly acidic to neutral, tolerates acidic to alkaline soils
Bloom Color
Insignificant
Bloom Time
Spring to early Fall
Foliage Color
Green, dark green, and silvery-green foliage.
Fall Foliage Color
No fall color change
Leaf Lifecycle
Evergreen broadleaf
Growth Rate
Moderate
Seasons of Interest
All four seasons
Propagation Methods
Seeds, Cuttings, Layering
Attracts Wildlife
Attracts birds and insects
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- L.
- Publication
- Sp. Pl. : 147 (1753)
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Angiosperms
- Order
- Myrtales
- Family
- Combretaceae
- Genus
- Conocarpus
Synonyms
Conocarpus erectus f. sericeus Conocarpus erectus var. arboreus Conocarpus erectus var. argenteus Conocarpus erectus var. procumbens Conocarpus erectus var. sericeus Conocarpus procumbens Conocarpus sericeus Conocarpus sericeus Conocarpus supina Conocarpus erectus f. erectus Conocarpus erectus var. erectus Terminalia erecta Conocarpus erectus var. sericeus Conocarpus acutifolius Conocarpus pubescens Terminalia erecta var. procumbens