Soldierwood Soldierwood

Rhamnus elliptica Swartz, Prodr., 50. 1788 (as ellipticus); Colubrina reclinata (L'Héritier) Brongniart

Shrubs or trees, erect, 2–6 m. Stems straight, strigose, glabrescent. Leaves deciduous; petiole 5–20 mm; blade broadly elliptic to elliptic-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 4–9 cm, herbaceous, base cuneate to rounded, 2 prominent glands at petiole/blade junction, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface sparsely strigose, glabrescent, adaxial surface glabrous; pinnately veined, secondary veins 5–8 pairs, arcuate. Inflorescences: thyrses, 8–20-flowered; peduncles 1–7 mm; fruiting pedicels 8–15 mm. Capsules 6–7 mm.

Flowering Sep–Feb, possibly year-round. Rockland hammocks, hammock margins, thickets, rocky strands; 0–10 m; Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America (Venezuela).

Colubrina elliptica is known in the flora area only from Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.