8a. Asimina longifolia var. longifolia
Primary shoots mostly stiff, straight, and erect to ascending, at first distally minutely tomentose. Leaf blade linear, elliptic-linear, rarely linear-oblanceolate, mostly broadest toward middle, less than 1.5 cm wide, margins revolute, apex acute to obtuse, rarely notched or rounded; surfaces sparsely hairy abaxially when young. Flowers: outer petals white or cream-white, sparsely hairy abaxially; inner petals white, rarely pink or red.
Flowering spring-early summer, all year if disturbed. Sands and sandy peats or loams of yellow sandhills, sandy fields and pastures, open longleaf pine-turkey oak woods and savannas; 0-100 m; Fla., Ga.
Asimina longifolia var. longifolia hybridizes with A . incana (= A . × nashii Kral) to produce spectacular, fragrant flowers with red or pink inner petals, and the hybrid is frequent over their nearly identical ranges. Asimina longifolia var. longifolia crosses with A . pygmaea , particularly along the Suwannee-Okefenokee axis, ultimately to form swarms, the individuals varying in height, degree of arching of branches, flower sizes, pigments, and fragrances. Some of those hybrids were noted by W. Bartram.