Red Maple
subject: Acer rubrum
description: Plant Height: 45 - 50 feet
description: Native Habitat: flatwoods, swamps, moist secondary woods
description: Medicinal Uses: liver and skin disorders, ophthalmalic treatments, women's treatment.
description: Medicinal Preparation: For women's treatment, maple bark is boiled with several other tree barks and the woman stands or sits over the steam.
description: Contraindications: unknown
creator: Karen Greene
source: Allen et al, 2003
source: Snow & Stans, 2001
source: Florida Native Plant Society Database entry
source: Atlas of Florida Plants entry
date: Entry Created: 2026-03-30
contributor: Karen Greene
coverage: Throughout the state

Butterfly weed
subject: Asclepius tuberosa
description: Plant Size: 1-2 ft tall x 0.5 - 1.5 ft wide
description: Habitat: sandhill, clayhill, scrub, ruderal
description: Medicinal Uses: used by Native Americans and settlers for bronchial conditions (pleurisy) and topically for bruises and sore muscles
creator: Karen Greene
source: Florida Native Plant Society database entry for Asclepius tuberosa
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Asclepius tuberosa
source: Allen et al, 2003
contributor: Karen Greene
coverage: Throughout the state

Cocoplum
subject: Chrysobalanus icaco
description: Plant Size: 10-30 ft tall x 10-20 ft wide
description: Habitat: Coastal swamps, beaches, cypress dones, Everglades tree islands, edges of ditches and canals
description: Medicinal Uses: Used to treat diarrhea, dysentery, and skin irritations. Leaves, bark, fruit and roots contain tannins and are an astrigent.
description: Medicinal Preparation: For skin irritations, the leaves and bark can be boiled, strained, and cooled to then use to wash the irritated area topically. To treat diarrhea, the leaves can be boiled to make a tea.
creator: Caitlin Woodington
source: Florida Native Plant Society database entry for Chrysobalanus icaco
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Chrysobalanus icaco
source: Allen et al, 2003
source: Growables, 2023
contributor: Caitlin Woodington
relation: Discussed in: Cocoplum Plant Profile: Native Florida Edible coastal and medicinal plant
coverage: Found in the following counties: Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, Pasco, Sarasota, St. Lucie

Strangler Fig
subject: Ficus Aurea
description: Plant Size: 40-60 ft tal x 20-60 ft wide
description: Habitat: Moist-wet sites to dry sites and on shallow soils over limestone. Tropical hammocks, swamps. May be epiphytic or have aerial roots that may wrap around the trunks of other trees and eventually form secondary trunks
description: Medicinal Uses: Inside bark used to treat sores and cuts. Stranlger fig can also be used to treat diarrhoea, dysentery and other gastrointestinal disorders.
description: Medicinal Preparation: Leaves can be brewed into a tea. Sap can be extracted as an ointment.
creator: Caitlin Woodington
source: Florida Native Plant Society database entry for Ficus Aurea
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Ficus Aurea
source: Allen et al, 2003
source: Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, n.d.
contributor: Caitlin Woodington
coverage: Found in the following counties: Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, St. Lucie, Volusia

Blackeyed Susan
subject: Rudbeckia hirta
description: Plant Size: 2-4 ft tall
description: Habitat: Vary by species. Mostly sandhills, bogs, roadsides, ruderal
description: Medicinal Uses: Support immune system, antibacterial effects against the germ that causes tuberculosis, used by Native Americans as a cold remedy and to treat worms. Also used by Native Americans for external washes to treat snakebites, swelling, and sores; root juice also used to treat earaches.
description: Medicinal Preparation: Root can be boiled into a tea, leaves and flowers can be crushed into a poultice, roots can be made into a tincture. Leaves and flowers can also be boiled into a tea.
description: Contraindications: Some people may experience skin irrations when they come into contact with plant or related species
creator: Caitlin Woodington
source: Florida Native Plant Society database entry for Rudbeckia Hirta
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Rudbeckia Hirta
source: Allen et al, 2003
source: Gardner, 2023
contributor: Caitlin Woodington
coverage: Throughout the state

Elderberry
subject: Sambucus nigra canadensis
description: Plant Size: 10-15 ft, at least as wide as it is tall, sometimes wider
description: Habitat: Disturbed wetland edges, wet roadsides, swamps, wet woodlands, riverbanks, ditches
description: Medicinal Uses: used to treat chest and digestive pain, to prevent and relieve cold and flu symptons. Has also been used to treat constipation, joint and muscle pain, respiratory infections, headaches, kidney problems, epilepsy, minor skin conditions, stress, and HIV and AIDS
description: Medicinal Preparation: Berries can be prepared into a syrup. It can also be prepared as gummies. Dried elderberries can also be boiled into a tea.
description: Contraindications: Children may become ill from playing with elderberry whistles or blowguns; plant contains cyanogenic glycosides
creator: Caitlin Woodington
source: Florida Native Plant Society database entry for Sambucus Nigra subsp. canadensis
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Sambucus Nigra subsp. canadensis
source: Allen et al, 2003
contributor: Caitlin Woodington
relation: Discussed in: 20 Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Southeastern U.S. Making Herbal Teas, Tinctures, and Salves with Bevin Cohen American Black Elderberry Sambucus canadensis great for natural habitat, refreshing beverage & more
coverage: Throughout the state

Sassafras
subject: Sassafras albidum
description: Plant Size: 30-60 ft tall x 25-40 ft wide, forms clones
description: Habitat: Dry sites. Dry mesic forests
description: Medicinal Uses: used by Native Americans to treat chest and digestive pain, digestive troubles, and a cold and cough mouthwash.
description: Medicinal Preparation: The roots can boiled into a tea.
description: Contraindications: Lab rats fed sassafras developed tumors
creator: Caitlin Woodington
source: Florida Native Plant Society database entry for Sassafras albidum
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Sassafras albidum
source: Allen et al, 2003
contributor: Caitlin Woodington
relation: Discussed in: 20 Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Southeastern U.S.
coverage: Found in the following counties: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Calhoun, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsdem, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Santa Rosa, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, Washington

Tallow Wood
subject: Ximenia Americana
description: Plant Size: 10-20 ft tall x 10-20 ft wide
description: Habitat: Hammocks, scrub, pineland
description: Medicinal Uses: Seminoles used the bark in a body wash to reduce deer sickness (painful limbs) and a mouthwash from the roots to treat sore gums.
creator: Gabriela Ruiz
source: Florida Native Plant Society database entry for Ximenia Americana
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Ximenia Americana
source: Allen et al, 2003
contributor: Gabriela Ruiz
coverage: Found in the following counties: Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe Keys, Monroe Mainland, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Volusia

Yaupon holly
subject: Ilex vomitoria
description: Plant Size: 8-25 ft tall x 5-8 ft wide, clonal
description: Habitat: Coastal and inland scrub, dunes, floodplains and hammocks
description: Medicinal Uses: Supports immune system, provides digestive relief, used as a stimulant, and lowers the risk of diabetes and heart disease
description: Contraindications: Known to have large thorns
creator: Gabriela Ruiz
source: Florida Native Plant Society database entry for Ilex vomitoria
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Ilex vomitoria
source: Allen et al, 2003
source: Ajmera, 2021
contributor: Gabriela Ruiz
relation: Discussed in: Homegrown Teas 20 Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Southeastern U.S. Yaupon Holly Tea
coverage: Found in the following counties: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Brevard, Calhoun, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, Washington

Floating Marsh Pennywort
subject: Hydrocotyle Ranunculoides
description: Plant Size: 0.5- 1.5 feet
description: Habitat: Stagnant water, swiftly flowing waters of swamps pools, backwaters, blackwater streams, sometimes forming floating mats
description: Medicinal Uses: Used by many U.S. native American tribes for respiratory ailments
creator: Gabriela Ruiz
source: Atlas of Florida Plants database entry for Hydrocotyle Ranunculoides
source: Allen et al, 2003
contributor: Gabriela Ruiz
coverage: Found in the following counties: Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Charlotte, Clay, Collier, DeSoto, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jefferson, Lake, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Nassau, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla