SILVER BUTTONWOOD (Conocarpus erectus var. Seriseus)

Near my home and only about 100 yards from the beach is a Silver Buttonwood tree that I walk pass as I go for a swim. I am not sure how old it is but it is at least 30 years.  Despite the winter salt wind that can devastate the trees in my garden this tree stands steady and healthy.  I have grown great respect for this tree over the years so want to recommend it to anybody who is trying to grow a garden near the beach.

Leaves and seed balls.

The Silver Buttonwood looks a little different to tropical plants because of it silver gray color but it is a tough native of Florida.  Back home it has various degrees of green to silver.  Seriseus has been started by a horticulturist who cleverly propagated a new silver gray variety from a particular silvery plant.

The beautiful twisty trunk.

Silver Buttonwood trees remind me of olive trees around the Mediterranean.  They can grow 15-25 ft. in height with wide spreading branches.  They are highly wind and salt tolerant and can make a lovely, shady accent tree to have your garden chairs under.  The tree I walk pass often has grown away from the wind somewhat so it really needs to have that side trimmed back to restore a nice shape.  I have seen other Silver Buttonwoods severely shaped and even trimmed down as a hedge.  They are very forgiving of the pruners.  The older trees develop a twisted trunk appearance that has its own beauty.  Th silver leaves have a soft velvet touch and the flowers are tiny balls that turn into small seedy balls.

The tree that is near our beach.  You can see that the
branch to the left needs to be cut way back to shape
up the tree.

The Silver Buttonwood likes full sun but can tolerate some shade.  It is tough but a lack of water will make some of the leaves turn yellow and drop off so a few drinks from the hose in the summer will keep the foliage full.  It also benefits from a yearly trim to keep its good looks.  If propagating this tree you will need to get clones to keep the strong silver leaf color so cuttings or air-layering are the ways to go.  I grew some Silver Buttonwood babies many years ago from cuttings and I remember not having a big success rate.  Definitely use rooting hormone and it seemed that cuttings of small starts growing out of the trunk worked best.  Maybe getting a bit of the trunk tissue attached on the end of the cutting was what helped.

Aloha