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Cyrilla racemiflora
Titi
Swamp Titi
Florida native
Titi is a small tree or shrub, often twisted into tickets in swamps and wetlands. Common in the panhandle and north Florida, becoming less frequent down the central peninsula as far as Highlands County. The range extends through much of the southeastern coastal plain from Texas into Delaware, plus Puerto Rico.
Cyrilla racemiflora has alternate leaves, with size varying greatly from 1-10 cm long and 0.5 - 2.5 cm wide. Plants will tend to have leaves that are mostly of one extreme or the other, leading some to propose that the large-leaved plants are a different form or even species than those with the smaller leaves, which are sometimes called C. parvifolia, or littleleaf titi.
Flowers are borne in elongated, cylindrical clusters of small white flowers. The flowers have five stamens and the fruits are small dry drupes that are not winged.
There are two genera of the Cyrillaceae family that occur in Florida, each with only one species present. The other member of the Cyrilla family is Cliftonia monophylla, having the common names black titi and buckwheat tree.
Cyrilla racemiflora is a member of the Cyrillaceae - Cyrilla family.
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 07, 2016
