Citharexylum spinosum L.

vernacular spiny fiddlewood — species · Verbenaceae

USDA: CISP3
GBIF: 2925396
Rank: species

spiny fiddlewood (Citharexylum spinosum) — Platephotograph · Jason Sharp source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Verbenaceae J. St.-Hil.
Genus: Citharexylum

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Native
PR Puerto Rico Native
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Native

§2b

County-level range

· 6 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 6 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Medium
Salinity: Medium
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 40 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
pH range: 5–8
Root depth: 24 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 25 ft
Height @ 20 y: 38 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Dense
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Yellow
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Summer
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Spring
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 45,635
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Nursery stock: No
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: Yes
Fuelwood: Low
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 6 counties across 1 state.

Florida view state ↗ 6 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CISP3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2925396 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z