Small Leaf Clusia – Clusia guttifera

General Landscape Uses: Privacy hedges or windbreaks, coastal buffer plantings, container or raised bed plantings, topiary shrubs

Ecological Restoration Notes: Not recommended

Description: The Small Leaf Clusia, also known as Pitch Apple, can be used as a hedge or a screen plant. They are salt and drought tolerant and easy to maintain. The leaves are thick and attractive and offer a tropical look for any landscape.

Dimensions: Height 25 ft.; Spread 4 – 10 ft.

Growth Rate: Moderate to fast

Native Range: Caribbean and parts of Central America

Native Habitats: Coastal forests, tropical hammocks, scrublands, and rocky limestone outcrops

Soils: Well-draining, sandy or rocky

Nutritional Requirements: Low to moderate

Salt Water Tolerance: High

Salt Wind Tolerance: High

Drought Tolerance: Dry to Moderate

Light Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Sun

Flower Color: Pink-white

Flower Characteristics: Small, waxy, star-shaped

Flowering Season: Summer

Fruit: Green turning brown capsules

Wildlife and Ecology: Birds may eat the fruit, dense foliage provides nesting cover

Horticultural Notes: Grown from cuttings, seed