Tropical Waxweed
Cuphea aspera
Found in pine flatwoods. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
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Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 4 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 222 animals.
- LimpkinAramus guarauna
- Long-billed DowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceus
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Roseate SpoonbillPlatalea ajaja
- Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
- Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
- Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
- Brown CreeperCerthia americana
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
- Eastern Wood-peweeContopus virens
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
- Fulvous Whistling-duckDendrocygna bicolor
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Mottled DuckAnas fulvigula
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Cuphea
- Ozarba aeriaAerial Brown
12BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Cuphea
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Lythraceae
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications