Click on any image to open the slideshow
Ptelea trifoliata
Common Hoptree
Wafer Ash
Skunk Bush
Florida native
An occasional shrub or small tree of mesic hammocks in the central and north peninsula and also in some panhandle counties. The range extends throughout the eastern United States west into Arizona and Utah and northwest into Nebraska and Minnesota. Also found in Ontario and Quebec.
Growing to only 7.5m (25 ft.) tall, this plant has distinctive alternate leaves with long petioles and usually three leaflets, but sometimes five. The leaves give off a musky odor if crushed. The greenish-white flowers appear near the end of branches in open-spaced, branching panicles. The is the only member of the citrus family in Florida with fruit that is a samara.
Ptelea trifoliata is a member of the Rutaceae - Citrus family.
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Apr 21, 2020
