Silver Buttonwood Conocarpus erectus 100 Seeds USA Company

The Silver Buttonwood is a form of the buttonwood mangrove that has silvery leaves with silky, white hairs. It is native to southern Florida and the Florida Keys. It is widely grown for its attractive foliage and it stands out in the landscape. It is a multi-stemmed shrub or tree and it is grown as a specimen tree, a shrub, a hedge and as a bonsai tree. It takes clipping well and it can form a nice, shaped hedge with dense, silvery foliage. As a tree it has a spreading or irregular form with a crooked or leaning trunk that gives it a picturesque appearance. It grows along the coast with mangroves and farther inland in coastal hammocks. It is salt tolerant, tolerant of poor, sandy soils and wind resistant and is a very durable tree. The fruits are small, brown, cone-like clusters of scaly, winged seeds and they are produced abundantly on the branches so they are an ornamental feature of the tree. It is easy to grow and it has a medium growth rate. 
The Buttonwood ages very nicely with the bark of the tree contorting and twisting with age. It can also be trimmed and shaped easily. Rough seashore winds add its nice patina. Conocarpus erectus grows as a small shrub to large tree up to 20 meters in height. The leaves are arranged alternately, oval and up to ten cm long and can be covered with either a gray pubescence or be completely glabrous. The petioles have two glands at the leaf base. The flowers occur in heads that are arranged in a racemous fashion. The calyx has five partially fused sepals. The corolla is absent and there are five stamens. The floral parts are all pubescent. The fruit is a drupe producing a flat winged seed. Conocarpus erectus occurs near saline environments along shorelines and interior ponds but typically only in locations that have occasional flooding. They can also grow in upland areas when planted. It occurs throughout the islands of the Bahamas, Florida, the Caribbean, Central and South America as well as Africa. Conocarpus erectus is widely used in the horticultural trade. The wood has been used for charcoal production because of how dense it is as well as in boat construction because of its durability in saline environments. It is also used as a fuel source for smoking fish and barbequing because of its unique flavor

Growing Instructions

1. Put a mixture of potting soil and sand or perlite in a pot with drainage holes in the bottom.
2. Sow the seeds on the surface and cover them with a thin layer of soil.
3. Water the seeds.
4. Put the pot in an area in full sun or part shade.
5. When the seedlings are several inches tall, they can be planted in the ground.