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Bejaria racemosa Vent.
Tarflower
Fly-catcher
Synonym(s): Befaria racemosa
Florida native
Tarflower is a common shrub of moist to wet flatwoods and sand scrub throughout most of peninsular Florida. Also occurs in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
Also called fly-catcher, these shrubs are typically 1.2-2.4m (4-8 ft) tall. The showy flowers have 6 or 7 white to pinkish narrowly spatulate separate petals and 12 to 14 stamens. The fragrant flowers form in elongated racemes mostly in the summer and are sticky, giving this plant its common name and often trapping insects on the petals. The alternate leaves are entire and ovate to elliptic. The undersides of the leaves may be whitish-green to pinkish. The fruit is a dark - almost black - sticky, spherical capsule.
The genus Bejaria honors José Bejar, an 18th century botanist and professor of surgery from Cadiz, Spain and was coined by a botanist named Mutis who sent a specimen from Columbia to Linnaeus, who misspelled it as Befaria. Although the correct spelling has been restored, both names are found in various references.
Bejaria racemosa is a member of the Ericaceae - Heath family.
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Jul 28, 2024
