Hardiness zones
Sunset 8-24
USDA 9-11
Landscape Use: Mesic ground cover for sun or shade
Form & Character: Green, and more green...
Growth Habit: Relatively short-lived, evergreen perennial ground cover, fast growing to 18" inches high by 8' to 15' feet in diameter. Forms adventitious roots on stolon-like, prostrate branches. Older plants wood producing.
Foliage/texture: Small lanceolate and sessile leaves, to 1" long, leaves bright green and fleshy on fleshy, brittle, well-branched stems, medium fine texture
Flowers & fruits: Profuse, small cream-white flowers arising from axillary flower buds; fruit are very small purple berries.
Seasonal color: Cream-white flowers in April
Temperature: Hardy to 23oF
Light: Partial to full sun best
Soil: MUST be WELL DRAINED!
Watering: Some drought tolerance, but regular water best
Pruning: Head back to limit spread. May require partial or complete removal after 5 to 10 years because of a tendency to buildup of under canopy woody material.
Propagation: Easy rooted from succulent softwood stem cuttings or layering. 'Stoloniferous' stems (stems that trail along the ground) will often produce adventitious roots in the landscape unless myoporum is planted in gravel covered landscape beds with drip irrigation.
Disease and pests: Spider mites, chocolate root rot
Additional comments: Prostrate myoporum attracts bees when in flower. This prostrate ground cover will NOT tolerate foot traffic because of it's brittle succulent stems. Prostrate myoporum was a popular Phoenix ground cover in the 1980s and early 1990s, and is now regaining popularity for use as a mesic ground cover lawn substitute. Locally (in the Phoenix area), it is often claimed to be a low water use plant, but it is not. It is however a plant for water conservation in the more Mediterranean climate of southern California. Variety prostratum is more compact and refined in appearance.
