A Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Success Story: The Tale of Atala & Coontie

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Learn about the Atala butterfly that is back from the brink of extinction in part due to our Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ choices. The history of the Atala's host plant and our colonization of Florida is an interesting one.

The Anthropocene era has caused the loss of numerous plant and animal species. However, there's a positive story of two local species, the coontie plant (Zamia integrifolia) and the Atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala), that have rebounded from the brink of extinction thanks to improved human behavior and practices.

The coontie plant, historically utilized by Florida's indigenous people, was driven close to extinction due to European settlers' commercial exploitation. It has now rebounded as a staple in Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ practices. Similarly, the Atala butterfly, once imperiled, has benefitted from conservation efforts alongside the coontie's resurgence. This success story underscores the potential for saving other endangered species through culturally informed landscaping choices, transforming landscapes into biodiverse habitats and preserving interconnected ecosystems.