Other Names:  Littleleaf Cordia, Small Leaf Geigertree

Description:

A semi-evergreen, heat tolerant shrub featuring tiny, ridged, gray-green foliage; clusters of pure white, papery-textured flowers cover the branches from spring to fall; a great accent choice for borders or the landscape; maintenance free

Ornamental Features

Little-leaf Cordia features showy clusters of white trumpet-shaped flowers at the ends of the branches from late spring to early fall. It has attractive grayish green evergreen foliage. The small textured oval leaves are highly ornamental and remain grayish green throughout the winter. However, the fruit can be messy in the landscape and may require occasional clean-up.

Landscape Attributes

Little-leaf Cordia is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Little-leaf Cordia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Little-leaf Cordia will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This shrub should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. This plant will benefit from an application of bonemeal and/or mycorrhizal fertilizer at the time of planting. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This species is native to parts of North America, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets.