Shrubs & Hedges (R-Z)

Notes:

-- indicates plants commonly available in nurseries and/or garden centers in south Florida
indicates plants that can tolerate wet soils or occasional flooding.
Click on linked scientific names for photos and/or more information.

Common name Scientific name	Size (feet)	Light	Salt tolerance	Comments
White indigoberry © Randia aculeata UF Fact Sheet (37KB pdf)	1.5-10	Full sun to partial shade	High	Native shrub with no outstanding features. Fragrant flowers and white berries on female plants. Main attribute is ability to grow under adverse conditions.
Buckthorn Rhamnus spp.	15	Full sun	High	Deciduous plant with glossy, dark green, oval leaves up to 3” long. Insignificant green flowers followed by small fruit that change from red to black as they ripen. No outstanding landscape value, but well adapted to dry, infertile sites. Numerous spines make these plants useful as security screens.
Lady palm-- Rhapis excelsa UF Fact Sheet (82KB pdf)	5-10	Partial to full shade	None	Small, densely clumping fan palm with numerous slender, dark brown trunks bearing distinctive fibers and leaf scar patterns. Small, deeply segmented, glossy dark green leaves on thin, delicate petioles. Often used as shrub or potted plant.
Rosemary -- Rosemarinus officinalis	3	Full sun	High	Evergreen, woody shrub with aromatic, needle-like leaves and gray, scaly bark. Easy to propagate from cuttings. Widely used as herb or nontraditional medicine. Upright forms perform best.
Firecracker plant -- Russelia equisetiformis UF Fact Sheet (46KB pdf)	2-4	Full sun	High	See description in “Perennials” above.
Scrub palmetto -- © Sabal etonia UF Fact Sheet (42KB pdf)	3-4	Full sun	Moderate	Small, native, trunkless, shrub-like palm resembling Serenoa repensbut with smooth petioles.
Dwarf blue palmetto -- © Sabal minor UF Fact Sheet (97KB pdf)	3-4	Partial shade	Moderate	Small, native, trunkless, shrub-like palm resembling S. etonia, but smaller and with bluish-green leaves. Can tolerate wet soils.
American elderberry © Sambucus canadensis UF Fact Sheet (263KB pdf)	10-15	Full sun to partial shade	Low	Native bushy, multi-stemmed, wide-spreading shrub with deciduous, compound leaves. Tiny, star-shaped, white flowers followed by shiny, blue-black fruit. Provides colorful autumn display of yellows, oranges, and reds in south Florida. Branches brittle. Forms dense thickets by suckering from roots.
Inkberry © Scaevola plumieri UF Fact Sheet (38KB pdf)	2-4	Full sun to partial shade	High	Native plant with succulent leaves. Insignificant, small, pink/white flowers. Spreads by underground stems. Well-suited to sandy soils at beach-front. Caution: Scaevola sericea (=S. taccada v. sericea, S. frutescens) is FLEPPC Category I invasive.
Dwarf schefflera -- Schefflera arboricola UF Fact Sheet (56KB pdf)	6-15	Full sun to partial shade	Moderate	Many cultivars, some with variegated foliage. Used as specimen or informal hedge. Takes pruning well. Mealybugs and scales can be a problem. Caution: Schefflera actinophylla is FLEPPC Category I invasive.
Candle bush Senna alata
Desert senna -- Senna polyphylla	12	Full sun	Low	Small tree with a beautiful cascading habit. Prefers well-drained soil. Small, yellow flowers mostly in dry season. Caution: Senna pendula is FLEPPC Category I invasive.
Saw palmetto -- © Serenoa repens UF Fact Sheet (97KB pdf)	3-8	Full sun to partial shade	High	Native clumping fan palm with subterranean, prostrate, or upright trunks. One of the most abundant and widely-planted palms in Florida. Green and silver forms. Spreading tendency can be problem when left uncontrolled.
Necklace-pod-- © Sophora tomentosa UF Fact Sheet (42KB pdf)	6	Full sun	High	Large, densely branched native shrub with natural rounded shape. Bears clusters of yellow flowers at tips of branches. Fast-growing and easily cultivated.
Blue porterweed -- © Stachytarpheta jamaicensis UF Fact Sheet (31KB pdf)	12-36	Full sun to partial shade	Moderate	Native, small, shrubby perennial with somewhat weedy habit. Flowers highly attractive to butterflies—a ‘must’ for any butterfly garden. Name derived from traditional foamy, porter-like beverage brewed from the plant.
Pink porterweed Stachytarpheta mutabilis
Pink porterweed -- Stachytarpheta speciosa	12-36	Full sun to partial shade	Moderate	Small, shrubby perennial with somewhat weedy habit. Flowers highly attractive to butterflies.
White bird-of-paradise -- Strelitzia nicolae UF Fact Sheet (97KB pdf)	8-20	Full sun to partial shade	Low	Named for the appearance of the spectacular flowers. Foliage dark green, banana-like. Drought tolerant once established. Relative of banana.
Orange bird-of-paradise -- Strelitzia reginae UF Fact Sheet (51KB pdf)	3-5	Full sun to partial shade	Low	Named for spectacular flowers. Foliage gray-green, fan-like. Drought tolerant once established. Scales can be a problem.
Marmalade plant Streptosolen jamesonii	6	Full sun	Low	Fast-growing, evergreen shrub grown for showy yellow to dark orange flowers produced winter to spring. Needs open, sunny site with excellent drainage. Sprawling growth benefits from support. Prune hard after flowering is complete.
Bay cedar © Suriana maritima UF Fact Sheet (40KB pdf)	6-12	Full sun	High	Native, small-leaved, evergreen shrub or small tree. Clusters of small, leathery leaves and attractive, peeling bark. Will grow in sand or on bare rock. Good choice for ocean and beach-front sites.
African milkbush Synadenium grantii	16	Full sun	High	Large shrub to small tree. Fleshy leaves and stems, becoming woody with age. Showy clusters of red flowers. Milky latex is poisonous.
Cape honeysuckle Tecomaria capensis	2-10	Full sun to light shade	High	Sprawling, rampant, evergreen, sometimes vine-like shrub. Compound leaves with 5-7 toothed, diamond-shaped leaflets. Clusters of brilliant red-orange to scarlet, tubular flowers. Can be pruned to shrub, trained to espalier, or grown as vine or ground-cover. Requires well-drained soil.
Tetrazygia, West Indian lilac -- © Tetrazygia bicolor UF Fact Sheet (41KB pdf)	6-40	Full sun to light shade	Low	Extremely ornamental, native, tropical shrub to small tree. Beautiful white and yellow flowers followed by purple-black berries, highly attractive to birds. Elegant, glossy, dark green foliage. Cannot be used as hedge, as branches die when pruned.
Limeberry Triphasia trifolia	3-10	Full sun	Moderate	Small, glossy, trifoliate leaves. Fragrant, diminutive white flowers. Edible red berries. Well adapted to rocky, calcareous soil.
Walter’s viburnum, black haw © Viburnum obovatum UF Fact Sheet (104KB pdf)	12-30	Full sun to partial shade	Low	Native large shrub to small tree with attractive, pure white blossoms in spring, before leaves fully developed. Flowers followed by berries that turn from green to pink to red to purplish-black in the fall. Ideal as a hedge.
Spanish bayonet -- Yucca aloifolia UF Fact Sheet (119KB pdf)	5-20	Full sun or partial shade	High	Trunk-forming yucca with dangerous sharp, pointed, strap-like leaves. Trunks often topped with large, upright clusters of creamy white flowers. Spreads to form thicket.
Bear grass, Adam’s needle © Yucca filamentosa UF Fact Sheet (103KB pdf)	3-6	Full sun	High	Leaves, resembling long green spears edged with white threads, form basal rosette. White, bell-shaped flowers bloom in terminal spikes from the mid to late summer.
Spineless yucca -- Yucca elephantipes UF Fact Sheet (78KB pdf)	12-15	Full sun	High	Attractive form. Leaves with soft spines. Showy, white, fragrant blooms. Requires freely draining soil.
Spanish dagger Yucca gloriosa UF Fact Sheet (117KB pdf)	3-4	Full sun	High	Stout, erect stem bears tufted crown of stiff, spear-like gray-green to green leaves. White, bell-shaped flowers in very long, terminal spikes—summer through fall.
Cycad -- Zamia amblyphyllidia	3-4	Partial shade	High	Mounding, clumping cycad with elegant leaves to 4’ and wide, paddle-shaped leaflets. Requires well-drained soil.
Florida coontie -- © Zamia floridana UF Fact Sheet (80KB Pdf)	1-5	Full sun to shade	High	Florida’s only native cycad. Host for atala hairstreak butterfly. Comes in a variety of sizes. Narrow to wide leaflets. Separate male and female plants; both bear reddish-brown cones; male cone small, elongate; female cone larger and wider. Also known as Z. pumila, Z. integrifolia, Z. sylvatica, Z. umbrosa. Requires well-drained soil.
Cardboard palm -- Zamia maritima UF Fact Sheet (57KB pdf)	3-6	Full sun to partial shade	High	Medium-sized cycad with broad, stiff, cardboard-like leaflets. Commonly planted in south Florida as shrubs, specimen plants, or in large planters. Name recently changed from Z. furfuracea. Can be weedy if both male and female plants are in the same vicinity. Requires well-drained soil.

Shrubs & Hedges (R-Z)

Notes:

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