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Tarflower is a woody shrub with fragrant, showy flowers found
in the scrub and flatwoods of three southeastern states: Florida,
Alabama, and Georgia. The nectar in the tarflower flowers is a food for butterflies. The sticky flowers trap flies and other insects, giving tarflower its common name. Tarflower is an upright, evergreen shrub that often grows in colonies. It has crowded |
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| alternate leaves and showy, long-petaled flowers. | ||
| Identifying Characteristics | ||
Size/Form: |
Tarflower is a shrub that can grow 7' or taller. It has a few upright branches and often forms dense colonies by rootsprouting. | |
Leaves: |
The leaves are simple, alternately spiraling, and persistent. They are usually 1" to 2" long, ¼" to 1" wide, and elliptic to ovate in outline. The whitish green to pinkish upper leaf surface is waxy with a whitish midvein and the lower leaf surface is duller light green. The leaf margins are entire. | |
Flowers: |
The flowers are white to pinkish, fragrant, and sticky and have 6 to 7 petals. Tarflower blooms from April to September. | |
Fruit: |
The fruit is a sticky, round capsule, ¼" wide, and has seven chambers. | |
Stem: |
New stems are pale green to golden-brown and hairy, but they gradually turn gray-brown and hairless with age. | |
Habitat: |
Tarflower is common understory plant in pine flatwoods and scrub. | |
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 bee stuck in "tar" |
 plant |