# Godfrey's Swamp Privet (Forestiera godfreyi)

> A rare native privet of wooded limestone bluffs and shell mounds, whose golden flower clusters open in midwinter, earlier than any other native privet.

Also called Godfrey's wild privet, Godfrey's privet. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/godfrey-swamp-privet/

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 8 to 16 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 8 to 9
- Grows wild in: Rich moist slopes, the forest understory, rocky ground and the coast
- Native range: Florida, Georgia and South Carolina
- Sun: Part, Full
- Soil moisture: Average
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Rare, Showy flowers
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Godfrey's swamp privet is a deciduous shrub of the olive family with arching or leaning stems, described as a new species in 1985. Despite its name, it is an upland plant, unlike our swamp privet of wet woods. It is rare everywhere it grows, known from about 30 sites. Florida and Georgia list it as endangered, and Georgia knows a single stand, in a coastal state park. Set it at a sunny or lightly shaded woodland edge on limestone or shell soil, where its arching stems have room to spread.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like our swamp privet, about a foot and a half a year. It makes a shrub or small tree of 8 to 16 feet, and it tends to form thickets. Its opposite leaves are 2 to 3 inches long, toothed above the middle and hairy beneath.

Flowers open from mid-January to mid-February, earlier than any other native privet. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants, in tight clusters held close to the stem, the males with bushy golden stamens. The fruit ripens quickly, from late April into early May, a waxy dark blue oval up to half an inch long.

It grows wild across north Florida, south to Marion and Sumter counties, and in one Georgia county and three South Carolina counties near the coast. Its homes are wooded bluffs above lakes and rivers, hammocks over limestone, and maritime forest on old shell mounds. NatureServe ranks it imperiled, with perhaps 1,000 to 2,500 plants left.

## How to grow Godfrey's Swamp Privet

Godfrey's swamp privet grows in light shade or full sun. Give it a moist soil that drains well, and once established it takes short dry spells. In the wild it grows over limestone or on shell. It does not take salty wind. Set plants 8 feet apart and keep them 8 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. It is sown as swamp privet is. Sow the ripe fruit as soon as it turns dark blue in late spring, pulp and all.

Water weekly through the first summer and in dry spells until it is established. Where deer are common, cage young plants for their first winters. Pull out any Chinese privet and nandina nearby, since those invaders crowd it in the wild.

Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. Its flower clusters look like single showy flowers, which suggests that insects carry the pollen.

## Sources

- [NatureServe Explorer: Forestiera godfreyi, Godfrey's Swamp-privet](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.149792/Forestiera_godfreyi)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida, Godfrey's swampprivet (2000)](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/FieldGuides/Forestiera_godfreyi.pdf)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Element Tracking Summary, 6/18/2026](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/tracking/element_tracking_summary_current.pdf)
- [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Forestiera godfreyi, Godfrey's Wild Privet (L. Chafin 2008, updated 2020)](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=16639)
- [Georgia Biodiversity Portal: rare plants table and protected plants table, exported July 7, 2026](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/table/plants)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Forestiera godfreyi](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=FOGO)
- [Atlas of Florida Plants, Institute for Systematic Botany: Forestiera godfreyi](https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/plant/species/2483)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Forestiera godfreyi](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/FOGO)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), letter F genera](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/f/at_download/file)
- [The Institute for Regional Conservation, Natives for Your Neighborhood: Forestiera godfreyi](https://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Foregodf)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for bees: pollen, nectar, nesting and a bloom calendar from willow to witch hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-bees/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Godfrey's Swamp Privet, add ?species=godfrey-swamp-privet with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=godfrey-swamp-privet&zone=8&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Godfrey's Swamp Privet](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=godfrey-swamp-privet): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=godfrey-swamp-privet
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Godfrey's Swamp Privet is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=godfrey-swamp-privet
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Godfrey's Swamp Privet needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=godfrey-swamp-privet:3
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Godfrey's Swamp Privet flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.