Colubrina arborescens: Coffee Colubrina, Wild Coffee

This Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ publication is part of a document series originally written by Edward F. Gilman. Visit https://FloridaFriendlyLandscaping.com to learn more about creating and maintaining attractive landscapes that protect Florida's water resources and environment.

Introduction

Colubrina (Colubrina arborescens) is a large shrub to small tree with an upright growth form, native to south Florida in the coastal upland plant community and the Caribbean Basin. This plant reaches a height of 15 to 25 feet, and a spread of 15 to 20 feet (Figure 1). The evergreen foliage is glossy and borne on thin twigs covered with rust-colored hairs (Figure 2). Hairs occasionally extend onto the underside of leaves. Prominent yellow veins contrast with the dark green leaves. Colubrina produces inconspicuous star-shaped green flowers in clusters at the leaf axils (Figure 3). These flowers appear year-round but are most abundant in late summer. Fruits are rounded black capsules and are attractive to birds (Figure 4). Colubrina has a variety of uses in the landscape including as a reclamation plant, may be trained as a standard or hedge, used as a specimen, as an espalier, for small parking lot islands, as a lawn tree or border in the landscape.

General Information

Scientific name: Colubrina arborescens

Pronunciation: kawl-yoo-BRYE-nuh ar-bor-RESS-enz

Common name(s): Colubrina, coffee colubrina, wild coffee, greenheart, soap bush

Family: Rhamnaceae

Plant type: tree

USDA hardiness zones: 10A through 11B (Figures 5 and 6)

Planting month for zones 10 and 11: year-round

Origin: native to Florida

Invasive potential: not known to be invasive

Uses: reclamation plant; trained as a standard; hedge; near a deck or patio; specimen; espalier; small parking lot islands (< 100 square feet in size); medium-sized parking lot islands (100-200 square feet in size); large parking lot islands (> 200 square feet in size); narrow tree lawns (3-4 feet wide); medium-sized tree lawns (4-6 feet wide); wide tree lawns (> 6 feet wide); recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings in the highway; screen; border

Availability: somewhat available, may have to go out of the region to find the plant

Description

Height: 15 to 25 feet

Spread: 12 to 20 feet

Plant habit: round; oval

Plant density: dense

Growth rate: slow

Texture: medium

Use and Management

Colubrina makes a good hedge or screen planting due to the dense canopy. Plant on 5-feet centers to establish a solid mass of foliage several years after planting. Single plants can be trained into a small tree by periodically removing lower foliage and branches as the tree grows taller. It will make a nice ornamental next to the patio or deck—or may also be located near a swimming pool—because of its attractive foliage and small fruits.

Columbrina grows best in partial shade but may also be planted in full shade. Soil in its native habitat is well drained and sandy, usually with a slightly alkaline pH. In the Keys, plants grow in porous limestone. Colubrina is adaptable to a range of soil conditions, given that it is well drained. It will benefit from a hummus or organic material in the top layer.

Colubrina elliptica is a similar plant growing in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean Basin. Colubrina cubensis is an endangered plant in Florida.

Design Considerations

Colubrina offers glossy, deep-green foliage, a rounded to upright form, and clusters of small white flowers followed by red-to-black berries, providing year-round texture, subtle color, and strong habitat value in partial shade to sun. Its adaptable structure makes it effective as a specimen in naturalistic or coastal gardens, a foundation shrub on protected exposures, a loose hedge, or a midlayer element in mixed native borders. Pair with other resilient plants such as firebush (Hamelia patens), Simpson's stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans), and cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) for a layered shrub border, or plant it with coontie (Hamelia patens) and beach sunflower (Helianthus debilis) at its base under the canopy of larger trees like gumbo limbo to create a cohesive, low-maintenance habitat.

Pests and Diseases

No pest or disease issues of major concern.