Lizard's Tail is a lovely Florida native with green leaves and attractive white flowers that hang in a cluster. It blossoms from spring throughout summer and the blooms resemble the end of a lizards tail. It prefers to grow in part sun-part shade and in water gardens or wet areas. It is a nectar source for a variety of native pollinators and used as a perch for dragonflies (who help control mosquito population).
How to care for Lizard's Tail
Light. Part sun to shade.
Water. Keep it wet or constantly moist. It handles occasional flooding and grows in shallow water at pond edges, but not in salty or brackish water.
Soil and feeding. Grows in sand, clay, loam or organic soil.
Size. Grows to about 2 ft tall and 1 ft wide. It spreads into colonies and can form dense patches, making it a good groundcover for wet areas. Divide clumps to make more plants.
Good to know. A Florida native of streams, swamps, wet forests and ditches. It is evergreen, and its white spring-to-summer flowers are fragrant. Hairstreak butterflies, bees and flies visit the flowers, and wood ducks feed on the plant. It does not tolerate salt spray.
Sources: Florida Native Plant Society Plant Database: Saururus cernuus
