Fiddlewood
Citharexylum spinosum
Plant Family: Verbenaceae
Leaves: Opposite, simple, shiny, elliptic, to 15 cm, the veins follow the leaf edges, petioles and midribs may be orange on some specimens. The leaves typically droop downward off the twigs and branches.
Bark: Light gray-brown, the twigs are square.
Flowers: Dioecious, small, white, tubular, with 5 petals, fragrant, in racemes in the leaf axils and at the branch ends; attractive to butterflies; late spring to summer, sometimes at other times of the year.
Fruits: A green drupe that turns bright orange and eventually ripens to black, on long racemes, edible and sweet; usually from late summer into fall.
Habitat: Fairly common in coastal hammocks and pinelands.
Growth Form: Shrub to small tree.
Key Features: Fiddlewood is the only hammock species with long opposite drooping leaves and square twigs.
Comments: The common name is derived from the French term for this plant, “bois fidele” which translates as “good wood.”
