Culture
Best grown in evenly moist to wet, well-draining, loamy, acidic soils in full sun to part shade. Hardy in Zones 5-10.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Cyrilla racemiflora, commonly called leatherwood, black titi, or swamp cyrilla, is a large, thicket-forming shrub or small tree native to the American tropics and subtropics from northern Brazil north through Central America to the Greater Antilles and southeastern United States. It is often found in bottomlands, swamps, wet pinelands and along streambanks. Mature plants will reach up to 30' tall with a 20' wide, slender to spreading canopy. Plants tend to reach up to 10' tall in cultivation, especially in subtropical climates. The leathery, obovate to oblong, up to 4" long and 1" wide leaves are evergreen, semi-evergreen, or fully deciduous depending on climate. In colder climates the leaves will develop excellent fall color. Whorls of cylindrical, 3-6" long racemes of white blooms emerge from late spring into summer at the base of the current year's growth. The flowers are followed by small, rounded, brown seed capsules that are retained through winter.
Genus name honors Dominico Cirillo (1734-1790), physician and professor of botany at Naples.
The specific epithet racemiflora means "flowers in racemes", in reference to the inflorescences of this species.
Problems
No major pest or disease problems of note.
Uses
Pond edges, rain gardens, moist areas on the edges of woodland gardens. Will naturalize into a thicket.