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Conocarpus erectus
Also called Silver-leaved Buttonwood, Buttonwood, Buttonwood Shrub, Green Buttonwood
In Singapore: Silver Buttonwood, Silver-leaf Buttonwood, Button Mangrove, Grey Mangrove, False Mangrove (Cultivated in Singapore)
Button mangrove (Conocarpus erectus) is a hardy, salt-tolerant shrub or small tree from tropical and subtropical shorelines, grown mainly as an ornamental in warm climates. Its key to success is full sun and warmth, with tolerance of salty or brackish conditions.
Conocarpus erectus, commonly called buttonwood or button mangrove, is a hardy species of mangrove shrub in the family Combretaceae.
It grows on shorelines in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas and west Africa. It is generally found growing in brackish water in tidal lagoons and bays, but can grow in inland habitats, with records at up to 745 m (2,444 ft) altitude in Costa Rica. Locations it is known from include Florida, Bermuda, the West Indies, Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil on the Atlantic Coast and Mexico to Peru on the Pacific Coast, as well as the western African coast. It was introduced in Kuwait and Western Australia due to its propensity to thrive in high temperatures and absorbing brackish water.
The tree is used as an ornamental plant and in bonsai. The variety sericeus, with silvery leaves, is especially prized for landscaping. It is an important host plant for epiphytes. As a result of ornamental planting, it has become naturalized in Hawaii. It has been used extensively in landscaping in Kuwait and became the most abundant tree/shrub.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Conocarpus erectus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
