# Pygmy Fringetree (Chionanthus pygmaeus)

> A rare dwarf fringetree from the sand ridges of central Florida, with showy clusters of fragrant white flowers in early spring and inch-long fruit.

Also called pigmy fringetree. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pygmy-fringetree/

![Pygmy fringetree (Chionanthus pygmaeus) drooping clusters of narrow white fringed flowers in spring](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/pygmy-fringetree-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Jason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFringe_Tree_-_Flickr_-_pellaea.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 3 to 12 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10
- Grows wild in: Sandy barrens and dry uplands
- Native range: Florida
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Dry, Average
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Rare, Showy flowers, Drought tolerant, Wildlife value
- 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

Pygmy fringetree is a deciduous shrub of the olive family, found only in central Florida, mostly on the Lake Wales Ridge. It is a close relative of our white fringetree, but smaller in leaf, flower and height, while its fruit is about twice as long. It is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, and Florida lists it as endangered too. Seedlings are rare in the wild, where it spreads mostly by sprouts from its roots. Grow it in full sun on deep, sandy soil beside a path, where its fragrant spring flowers can be enjoyed up close.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates the growth of established plants, so our growth estimator treats it as a slow grower, like our white fringetree, about a foot a year. New sprouts from the roots grow 8 to 16 inches in their first season. In the wild it usually stays under 3 feet, but it can reach 12 feet or more, and its leathery leaves are 1 to 4 inches long.

Dense clusters of fragrant white flowers, each with four narrow petals about half an inch long, open in March and April. The olive-like fruit, about an inch long, ripens purplish brown in late summer and can hang on well into winter. Birds and small mammals take the fruit.

It grows wild in scrub, sandhill and dry hammocks on deep sand, where fire keeps the ground open, and it sprouts back from the roots after a burn. NatureServe ranks it imperiled, with about 4,000 wild plants, only half of them on protected land.

## How to grow Pygmy Fringetree

Pygmy fringetree needs full sun. It takes the light shade of scattered pines, but not heavy shade. Give it a deep, sandy soil that drains fast, and keep it out of wet ground. It rides out long droughts, though plants on moister sand grow taller and flower more. Set plants 5 feet apart and keep them 5 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship potted. Plant them from late fall to early spring, in a hole wider than the pot and no deeper. Keep the root ball whole, set the crown at the soil line, and put the native soil back in. Its seed is hard to raise, with a complex dormancy that resists most treatments. Sow it as white fringetree is sown, outdoors in fall under a mouse screen. Seedlings are few, and they may take until the second spring.

Water weekly through the first summer, then only in long droughts. Deer browse the new leaves and shoots, so cage young plants. It needs no pruning, but keep taller shrubs from shading it, since plants in open ground carry the most flowers.

Most plants are male or female, and in the wild only about one plant in seven is female, so plant several seedlings if you want fruit. Honeybees and bee flies visit the flowers. The caterpillars of a moth chew the young leaves, and a weevil infests many of the fruits. Emerald ash borer attacks white fringetree, and it would likely kill this species too where the beetle spreads. Saplings and seed are shipped only in state and otherwise pickup only.

## Sources

- [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Pygmy fringe-tree (Chionanthus pygmaeus) 5-Year Review: Summary and Evaluation, 2010](https://ecosphere-documents-production-public.s3.amazonaws.com/sams/public_docs/species_nonpublish/1583.pdf)
- [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Pygmy fringe-tree (Chionanthus pygmaeus) 5-Year Review 2021](https://ecosphere-documents-production-public.s3.amazonaws.com/sams/public_docs/species_nonpublish/974.pdf)
- [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Pygmy fringe-tree (Chionanthus pygmaeus) 5-Year Status Review, July 2025](https://ecosphere-documents-production-public.s3.amazonaws.com/sams/public_docs/species_nonpublish/26313.pdf)
- [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ECOS species catalog](https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/1084)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Chionanthus pygmaeus, Pygmy Fringetree](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.156325/Chionanthus_pygmaeus)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Field Guide, pygmy fringe tree (January 2025)](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/FieldGuides/Chionanthus_pygmaeus.pdf)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Element Tracking Summary, 6/18/2026](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/tracking/element_tracking_summary_current.pdf)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Chionanthus pygmaeus (Sutton 2022)](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/chionanthus/chionanthus-pygmaeus/)
- [Bayer and Stewart 2011, Prospects for conservation of an endemic woody species native to Florida, Chionanthus pygmaeus (pygmy fringetree), through seed and vegetative propagation, Native Plants Journal 12(1): 62-69](https://doi.org/10.3368/npj.12.1.62)
- [Florida Native Plant Society: Chionanthus pygmaeus, pigmy fringe tree](https://www.fnps.org/plant/chionanthus-pygmaeus)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Chionanthus pygmaeus](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CHPY2)
- [Atlas of Florida Plants, Institute for Systematic Botany: Chionanthus pygmaeus](https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/plant/species/1159)
- [Hardin 1974, Studies of the southeastern United States flora IV. Oleaceae, Sida 5: 274-285](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16201626)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Chionanthus chapter](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/c/at_download/file)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Chionanthus pygmaeus](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/CHPY2)

## 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 butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Pygmy Fringetree, add ?species=pygmy-fringetree with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=pygmy-fringetree&zone=7&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Pygmy Fringetree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=pygmy-fringetree): 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=pygmy-fringetree
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Pygmy Fringetree 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=pygmy-fringetree
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Pygmy Fringetree 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=pygmy-fringetree:5
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Pygmy Fringetree flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.