Guettarda scabra (Rough Velvetseed)

Native to southern Florida, the Caribbean and northern South America, this evergreen shrub grows in pine rocklands and hardwood hammocks. White flowers have long, narrow tubes and spreading lobes. They open late in the evening and release a strong, sweet fragrance overnight, fading and wilting the following day. Night-flying hawkmoths pollinate the flowers. Individual plants bear either long-styled or short-styled flowers. In southern Florida, the main flowering season is from May through July. Photographed in Panama.