Appearance
Large, bushy shrub to 16 ft (5m) tall, often forming dense round mounds.
Leaves
Simple, closely alternate, crowded at stem tips; blades thick, shiny green, wider near tips, to 8 in (21 cm) long; hairless to hairy on both sides, margins rolled downward, light green turning yellow with age; leaf axils with tufts of pale hairs.
Flowers
White to pale lilac, several in short clusters at leaf axils; 5 petals, partially fused, split to base on upper side so that petal lobes spread fanlike into a lower lip.
Fruit
A fleshy, sub-spherical drupe, green then white, 0.3–0.5 in (8-12 mm) long, with sepal lobes persistent at tip.
Ecological threat
Appears to be supplanting native coastal vegetation and has begun to displace rare native beach plants, such as the inkberry and the Florida endangered sea lavender. FLEPPC Category I.