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Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.)Vahl
Blue Porterweed
Light-blue Snakeweed
Joee
Florida native
An occasional wildflower of dunes, pine rocklands, shell middens and disturbed sites from Osceola and Brevard Counties south along the east coast to the Keys and on the west coast north into Lee County, plus Hillsborough and Wakulla Counties. Also found in Alabama and Bermuda with the range extending through the Caribbean. An introduced species in Hawaii.
The long flower spike is distinctive and is a fleshy rachis in which the base of the flowers flowers and the fruit are embedded. Floral bracts on the spike are ovate-lanceolate and scariously margined above the middle. Only one or a few flowers appear at any one time on a spike with each flower only lasting one day. Leaves have coarse obtuse teeth that are pointed towards the tip of the leaf.
Stachytarpheta jamaicensis is a member of the Verbenaceae - Verbena family.
Other species of the Stachytarpheta genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Stachytarpheta cayennensis - NETTLELEAF VELVETBERRY
Stachytarpheta x intercedens - PORTERWEED
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: Sep 30, 2023
