Cyrilla racemiflora

Swamp Titi is an extremely interesting and underused shrub or small tree for our area. It grows to perhaps 20 feet (more often 12-15 feet) and can be described as having both lustrous evergreen or tardily deciduous leaves and colorful fall foliage! Its trunk(s) and branches are very nicely contorted, with cinnamon-colored bark (maturing to grayish, exfoliating), and it puts on a long-lasting, stunning floral display in the summer, followed by seeds attractive to birds. In the Southern U.S., it is found in swamps. bogs, pocosins, wet places in the piedmont and coastal plains from Virginia around to Texas and is associated with Bald Cypress, Pond Cypress, Tupelos, Sweetbays, Redbays and Atlantic White Cedar. But its range extends much further, through the Caribbean to Central and northern South America. In these tropical places the trees are much taller, and evergreen. We have collected seeds from shrubs/trees growing in thickets or colonies pond-side in the Sandhills. Like many plants originating in wet places, Titi grows well in upland soils as well. This is a beautiful plant.