![]() Gumbo limbo trees are a good choice for urban settings along roadways, but they do have a tendency to get big (especially in breadth). If left unpruned, the lowest branches may droop nearly down to the ground. They are hardy in USDA zones 10b through 11. The smaller branches may be lost to high winds, but the trunks will survive and regrow after hurricanes. They are drought-tolerant and stand up well to salt. ![]() Gumbo limbo trees are tough and low maintenance. In the tropics, it loses its leaves completely during the dry season. The tree is technically deciduous, but in Florida, it loses its green, oblong leaves at almost the same time it grows new ones, so it is practically never bare. In fact, it is this peeling back that has earned it the nickname of “tourist tree” for the resemblance to sunburned skin that tourists often get when visiting this area. The bark is brownish gray and peels to reveal attractive and distinctive red underneath. The branches grow in a curved, contorted pattern that gives the tree an open and interesting shape. The trunk tends to split into several branches close to the ground. Trees tend to reach 25 to 50 feet (8-15 m.) tall at maturity, and they are sometimes wider than they are tall. It grows extremely fast– in the course of 18 months, it can go from a seed to a tree reaching 6 to 8 feet in height (2 m.). The tree is native to southern Florida and ranges throughout the Caribbean and South and Central America. While it won’t tolerate long-term saltwater inundation, it does have a moderate tolerance to salt air, so it makes a great coastal tree. What is a gumbo limbo tree? Gumbo limbo ( Bursera simaruba) is an especially popular species of the genus Bursera. Gumbo limbo obviously thrives in our poor, alkaline soil. Keep reading to learn more gumbo limbo info, including gumbo limbo care and how to grow gumbo limbo trees. These trees are popular in hot climates as specimen trees, and especially for lining streets and sidewalks in urban settings. When I noticed that he had a number of smaller Gumbo Limbo trees in his backyard (about 5-6 diameter and 20+ feet tall) he mentioned that the tree trimming firm he hired had been fined about 150 for excessive reduction in the size of the tree. Gumbo limbo trees are big, very fast growing, and interestingly shaped natives of southern Florida. Update on Dec 28, 2010: Tree of the Week-Tropical Gumbo Limbo Today I met with the owner on issues unrelated to your blog.
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