Its shiny, dark green leaves set off the attractive pink-red new growth. In the fall, clusters of small, white flowers appear in the axils of leaves, followed by brilliant red fruits which ripen the following spring, attracting birds. The red-berry stopper, rarely available for sale, is exceptionally beautiful and enduring in the landscape. Fragrant white flowers are produced from January to April. Female trees produce fruits which from mature red to black.
Birds love the fruit.
Inkwood is native to hammocks of South Florida, the West Indies, and Central America. Grow it in light shade to full sun. Small, lightly fragrant white flowers open in spring to summer, and are followed by small black fruits much loved by birds. The white ironwood has a neat, upright, rather dense growth habit. It is quite rare in Florida where it grows in hammocks in the Everglades and the Florida Keys.