Description: Florida rosemary has always been one of my favorite scrub plants. They are almost magical in their ability to grow in sterile quartz sand. The one above is in full bloom. I think this one is a male plant (they are dioecious). These, along with several other scrub plants, contribute to the mélange of fragrances that give the scrub it's subtle but unique smell, which I have loved since babyhood. Florida rosemary are allelopathic and produce ceratiolin, a chemical that inhibits the growth of other plants, often resulting in open sand patches around them. Ceratiola are killed by fire and are very slow to recover, doing so only by seeds that survived on the ground. It can take a new plant 10 years to begin producing seeds. Harvester ants, mice & birds eat the seeds. This plant is not actually related to the herb rosemary (Rosmarinus) and does not smell like it. Date: 4 November 2011, 09:45. Source:
Florida rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides) Uploaded by
Jacopo Werther. Author:
Bob Peterson from North Palm Beach, Florida, Planet Earth!. Camera location
26° 55′ 01.26″ N, 80° 04′ 35.76″ W View all coordinates using:
OpenStreetMap 26.917018; -80.076599.
