Tree · Rutaceae
Sea torchwood
Amyris elemifera
Sea torchwood is recorded as native to 1 state or territory in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 10 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Sea torchwood at a glance
- Native in
- 10 counties, across 1 state or territory
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 8b PLANTS minimum temperature 15°F
- Mature height
- 16 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 8b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 15°F; zone 8b winters bottom out at 15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Sea torchwood is recorded as native to 1 state or territory in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 10 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 10 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 10 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Florida 10 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 16 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Rounded
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 6 to 8.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- High
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 36 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 15°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 8b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 365
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Indeterminate
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Purple
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Rutaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- AMEL
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Amyris elemifera (PLANTS symbol AMEL).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources