Photo: Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Rhacoma

Crossopetalum rhacoma

Also known as Florida crossopetalum, Rhacoma crossopetalum

At a glance

Family

Celastraceae (bittersweet family)

Type

Evergreen shrub

Parts used

No established herbal use; leaves and fruit are noted botanically only

Size

Typically 3 to 6 feet tall, sometimes low and sprawling among rocks

Bloom

Tiny greenish-white flowers in spring and summer, followed by small bright red berry-like drupes

Habitat

Limestone pine rocklands and coastal rockland hammocks of southern Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands

Acquisition

Grow

This plant in HerbSense

Key benefits

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Supports native wildlife

Evergreen garden structure

Low water once established

Rare native heritage plant

Traditional uses

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Rhacoma does not carry a documented history as a medicinal or culinary herb the way many of its garden neighbors do. What it does carry is a quiet botanical curiosity, it was one of the very plants Carl Linnaeus named in 1753, originally as Rhacoma crossopetalum, and later botanists flipped the name around to the Crossopetalum rhacoma we use today. In its native range it has long been valued simply for what it is, a tough little evergreen that holds its ground on bare limestone and feeds birds through its small red fruits. Today it is treasured mainly by native plant gardeners and conservationists working to keep Florida's vanishing pine rockland habitat alive.

How to grow & use it

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Choose it when

“For the gardener restoring a small patch of vanishing Florida limestone, one tough evergreen at a time.”

Did you know?

Linnaeus originally named this plant Rhacoma crossopetalum in 1753. Later botanists decided the genus belonged with its relatives in Crossopetalum instead, so they simply swapped the two words around, turning it into Crossopetalum rhacoma, a rare case where a plant's old genus name lives on as its modern species name.

Safety

This plant has no history of eating or medicinal use and hasn't been studied for safety, so don't eat it. It's uncommon in the wild, so choose nursery-grown plants, and keep it away from pets and small children.