Simpson’s Stopper: A split-personality utility player that’s both practical and beautiful.
Simpson’s Stopper is used to being passed over for more luxuriant shrubs such as pitch apple, viburnum and podocarpus. But it DOES have its place, literally, in areas that include AC units, pool equipment and trash receptacles. While three of ArtisTree’s five Plantopinions experts admit they don’t use this evergreen regularly, they acknowledge its practical benefits — a cold-hardy Florida native that can soften the corners of a cottage-style home or serve as a stately pair of sheered entryway shrubs.
Versatile Simpson’s Stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans) can function as a tree, shrub, hedge or utility buffer depending on how you trim it.
Joe Mantkowski, ArtisTree VP Landscape Design:
I don’t use Simpson’s Stopper very much; however, I’ve started using it more around service equipment pads since they provide a nice thick buffering without getting too wide or large. They’re slow growers and don’t require a lot of close attention or maintenance either. Drought and salt tolerant, with a bonus of producing fragrant white flowers in spring and early summer that turn into orange/red berries. Birds and other pollinators love them.
Clinton Lak, ArtisTree Landscape Designer:
I don’t use Simpson’s Stopper on a regular basis. That said, I like the plant and feel that it has its place in the landscape. For instance, I’ll use it to soften utility walls, screen utilities, or create privacy along pool cages and on parking lot islands. Given that the plant will ultimately develop into a large shrub/small tree, I don’t recommend it be used as a hedge along the foundation of a house due to the inability to keep them at three feet. It also works well used as a tall hedge and requires less maintenance than a traditional viburnum hedge or pitch apple.
Fragrant white blossoms give way to pollinator-enticing bright berries. Humans can eat the fruit’s not-so-palatable flesh but should stay away from the bitter seeds.
Chris Culp, ArtisTree Landscape Designer:
I use Simpson’s Stopper all the time when native plants are called for. It’s super low maintenance, has small leaves, and produces fuzzy white booms with an orange fruit. Does very well in the landscape and requires almost no maintenance once established. You don’t have to worry too much about insect/disease problems; just check them occasionally for fungus and that’s about it. I use them a lot to hide AC units or pool equipment areas.
Brian Clouser, ArtisTree Landscape Designer:
I never used Simpson’s Stopper until I joined ArtisTree and had to for ARC or county requirements. They’re a nice native shrub but don’t have as much interest or color as other plants. I don’t use them much because they can get large and be a little rough looking. Those who like “native plants” will appreciate them, but I’ve found that people moving here wanting a tropical Florida style generally think it has too much of a generic, northern-shrub look. Holly trees have a similar stigma. I’d rather use other pollinator-friendly shrubs that stay smaller and have more color. For a larger screening shrub, I prefer buttonwoods, viburnums, pitch apple or podocarpus.
Sometimes known as twinberry, Simpson’s Stopper is a member of the eucalyptus family Myrtaceae. Leaves give off a citrusy scent similar to nutmeg.
I like Simpson’s Stopper. It’s a Florida Friendly native plant that provides an evergreen leaf year-round. For profuse blooms and a more compact form, plant them in full sun or partial shade. If you plant in full shade, they’ll grow more vertically and have a somewhat thin, messy appearance. Average tree height is only 20-feet tall, although I’ve read the record height is 38 feet (in Okeechobee County). While they make a nice screening hedge, they also look great as a specimen tree or background shrub. I recommend using the Simpson’s Stopper somewhere in your landscape even if it’s only one plant.
Simpson’s Stopper was once used as a medicine to treat abdominal symptoms. It was scientifically called Eugenia simpsonii in honor of Charles Torrey Simpson, a self-taught botanist and conservationist who called SE Florida home in the early 1900s.
ArtisTree VP/Landscape Joe Mantkowski & landscape designers Clinton Lak, Chris Culp and Brian Clouser along with Landscape Operations Manager Conan Michel.
ArtisTree “Plantopinions” is a roundtable debate between ArtisTree experts on the virtues of various plant specimens. Sometimes there’s consensus and sometimes not. In the end, you are the judge.
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