Florida Tetrazygia
Tetrazygia bicolor
Plant Family: Melastomataceae
Leaves: Opposite, simple, glossy, lanceolate, to 15 cm, with 3 prominent and depressed lengthwise veins.
Bark: Light brown, rough to lightly fissured.
Flowers: White, with five petals and yellow stamens in attractive terminal clusters that appear in the spring and into summer.
Fruits: A purple-black berry, to 1 cm, clustered at the branch ends, edible; late summer to fall.
Habitat: Pinelands, hammock edges.
Growth Form: Shrub to small tree.
Key Feature: The three prominent, lengthwise leaf veins are unique, making this species easy to identify in any habitat.
Comments: Florida Tetrazygia is mostly found in the pinelands of South Florida as a shrub, but it may reach small tree status within hammocks; it is found in full sun on hammock edges in a shrubby form in single species thickets.
