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| Common Name: |
Buttonwood |
| Scientific Name: |
Conocarpus erectus |
| Hardiness Zone: |
10 through 11 |
| Family: |
Combretaceae |
General Information
Conocarpus erectus, one of two species in the genus Conocarpus, is a mangrove shrub and tree in the family Combretaceae growing on shorelines in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil on the Atlantic coast and Mexico to Ecuador on the Pacific coast, western Africa and in Melanesia and Polynesia. English common names include Buttonwood, Buttonbush, Button Mangrove, Button-tree, False Mangrove, Florida Button, Florida Buttonwood, Green Buttonwood, Grey Mangrove and Zaragoza Mangrove. Buttonwood trees are not true mangroves, but are often found adjacent to mangrove swamps above the high tide line. It has been used in tanning and the wood produces a high-grade charcoal that is smoke-free when burned.
Basic Care
| Bark Characteristics: |
The bark is gray or brown, furrowed, fibrous, and moderately thin (about 8 mm). The inner bark is dark cream in color. Stemwood (specific gravity of 1.0) is hard, heavy, and strong. Branches are brittle. The twigs are slender, yellow-green, angled, flattened, or winged. |
| Leaf/Foliage Characteristics: |
They are distinguished by their sharply pointed, alternately arranged leaves. They have small glands near the base of the leaf stalk and small glands on the leaf undersurface (See Pictures below). Many branches often have one reddish or yellowish leaf that gives this plant a distinctive appearance from a distance. The spirally arranged, elliptic to lanceolate leaves are cartaceous to somewhat fleshy, 2 to 10 cm long, with petioles 3 to 9 mm long. Inflorescences are terminal or axillary. |
| Growth Characteristics |
The species is usually a shrub 1.5 to 4 m in height but can become a tree up to 20 m or more in height. The root system consists mainly of laterals and fine roots that are dark brown, weak and brittle, and have a corky bark. The plant usually has an erect trunk or multiple trunks, but it may assume a prostrate form and have limbs that layer and become new individuals. |
| Flower/Fruit Characteristics: |
Buttonwood has dense round flower clusters. After flowering, the heads turn brown and are composed of many small fruits, each with one seed. |
| Lighting: |
Full Sun |
| Watering: |
Water frequently with well-draining soil. Avoid allowing to dry out for any length of time. Wilting or drooping leaves indicate that the Buttonwood requires water immediately. |
| Feeding: |
Begin feeding heavily in March, cut back on feeding as the tree goes into its dormant season October or November. |
| Pruning/Wiring: |
Cut back shoots leaving no less than 2 leaves. Wiring to bend branches should be done when the branch is less than 1/4" in width. As the width of the branch increases beyond 1/4", the chance of breaking the branch increases significantly. |
| Propagation: |
From seed. Purchase collected specimens. |
| Potting: |
Every other year. Repot during the summer when the average nightime temperture is greater than 70 degrees. |
| Pests: |
WARNING: Malathion, diazinon and oil based chemicals are hazardous to Buttonwood. Sucking insect secretions will result in problems with sooty mold on trees inland from the coast. Clean deadwood with a wire brush, then apply lime sulphur. Mites. Borers |
| Diseases: |
No diseases are of major concern. |
| Bibliography: |
This document is ENH338, one of a series of the Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date November 1993. Revised December 2006. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Edward F. Gilman, professor, Environmental Horticulture Department; Dennis G. Watson, associate professor, Agricultural Engineering Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611. John K. Francis, Research Forester, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Jardín Botánico Sur, 1201 Calle Ceiba, San Juan PR 00926-1119, in cooperation with the University of Puerto Rico, Río dras, PR 00936-4984 |
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