Wild lime in flower. Photo by Mary Keim.

Wild Lime, an endangered Florida native has been primarily grown as a shrub for restoration, but some growers offer a single trunk with full head for specimen landscape installations. The plant is easily propagated from seed cleaned and placed in a warm greenhouse. This large shrub/small tree is dioecious, so you’ll need male and female plants for reproduction. The Giant Swallowtail Butterfly hosts on Wild Lime, so look forward to seeing North America’s largest butterfly when you include Wild Lime in the landscape and don’t use pesticides. This is a thorny shrub, so you’ll want to place it in areas where you might not want foot traffic — buffer strips or perhaps to keep burglars away from windows!

Wild Lime growth habit, photo by Jenny Evans, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation

Wild Lime compound leaves, photo by Jenny Evans, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation

Wild Lime, seeds, fruit, compound leaves. Photo by Jenny Evans, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation