FNPS Plant Database

Cakile lanceolata

coastal searocket
  • Photo by: John Bradford, Martin County Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: John Bradford, Martin County Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

coastal searocket

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Cakile lanceolata

Family:

Brassicaceae (mustard family)

Plant Specifics

Form:

flower

Size:

2 ft tall by 2 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

white,lavender

Fruit Color:

yellow

Phenology:

Evergreen. Blooms spring through summer.

Noted For:

Hurricane Wind Resistance

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Searocket is best used to hold loose sand in place such as the beach dune system.

Considerations:

Availability:

Specialty Provider

Propagation:

The searocket produces pods shaped like a rocket with two seeds, one in the top, which drops off and is carried away by wind or water, and the bottom with remains with the plant.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Coming Soon!

Short very dry periods ---to--- Somewhat long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

High. Can tolerate significant and ongoing amounts of salt.

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand, Loam

Soil pH:

Suitable to Grow In:

8B,9A,9B,10A,10B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators, Butterflies, Caterpillars

Attracts butterflies and bees.





Larval host for the great southern white( Ascia monuste phileta ).

Native Habitats:

Coastal dunes. Identified along the Indian River lagoon and the Atlantic shoreline to the Gulf and across to the panhandle of Florida.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

Pronuciation : Ca-ki-le lan-see-oh-lay-tuh The searocket blooms July through September. Annual to short-lived perennial.

Citations:

Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell.  1999.  Native Florida Plants.  Gulf Publishing Company.  Houston, TX.



Minno, Marc and Maria Minno.  1999.  Florida butterfly gardening.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021.  Atlas of Florida Plants  ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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