Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Share

Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

Enter a Plant Name:
Or you can choose a plant family:

Eugenia axillaris

Eugenia axillaris (Sw.) Willd.

White Stopper

Myrtaceae (Myrtle Family)

Synonym(s): Eugenia anthera, Myrtus axillaris

USDA Symbol: EUAX

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), PR (N), VI (N)

White Stopper is a small, evergreen tree or shrub, 20-30 ft. tall, with a slender trunk and well-shaped crown. New leaves are bright red but turn glossy, dark-green on the upper surface as they develop. Small, fragrant, inconspicuous, white flowers arise from leaf axils and are followed by 1/2 in. diameter berries ripening from green to black.

 

From the Image Gallery

No images of this plant

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Tree
Leaf Retention: Evergreen
Fruit Type: Berry
Size Notes: Up to about 30 feet tall, often much shorter.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Jan , Feb , Mar , Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov , Dec
Bloom Notes: May flower year-round. Peak flowering season is spring and summer.

Distribution

USA: FL
Native Distribution: S. FL Gulf Coast
Native Habitat: Coastal hammocks & sandy areas; rarely inland

Growing Conditions

Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Description: Sandy soils.
Conditions Comments: Blooms intermittently all year, though the primary bloom period is summer.

Benefit

Attracts: Butterflies

Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)

Tantalus sphinx
(Aellopos tantalus)

Adult Food Source
Learn more at BAMONA

Propagation

Description: White stopper can be grown from seed. Seed takes several weeks to germinate.
Commercially Avail: yes

Bibliography

Bibref 1186 - Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America (2005) Covell, C.V., Jr.
Bibref 1185 - Field Guide to Western Butterflies (Peterson Field Guides) (1999) Opler, P.A. and A.B. Wright

Search More Titles in Bibliography

Web Reference

Webref 57 - Atlas of Florida Plants (2020) Institute for Systematic Botany
Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter

Research Literature

Reslit 695 - Responses of twelve tree species common in Everglades tree islands to simulated hydrologic regimes (2006) D. T. Jones, J. P. Sah, M. S. Ross, S. F. Oberbaue...
Reslit 1786 - The taxonomic significance of leaf micromorphology in the genus Eugenia L (Myrtaceae) (1996) N. W. Haron and D. M. Moore

This information was provided by the Florida WIldflower Foundation.
Search More Titles in Research Literature

Additional resources

USDA: Find Eugenia axillaris in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Eugenia axillaris in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Eugenia axillaris

Metadata

Record Modified: 2023-04-18
Research By: TWC Staff

Go back