FNPS Plant Database

Picramnia pentandra

Florida bitterbush
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

Florida bitterbush

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Picramnia pentandra

Family:

Picramniaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

shrub

Size:

10-15 ft tall by about 5 ft wide.

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

white

Fruit Color:

red

Phenology:

evergreen

Noted For:

Interesting Foliage

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Useful as a grouped planting or potentially a small specimen tree or large shrub.

Considerations:

Availability:

Native Nurseries

Propagation:

Seed

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry

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Usually moist, occasional inundation -to- Very long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Soil pH:

Acidic to neutral

Suitable to Grow In:

10A,10B,11

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators, Caterpillars, Birds

Larval host for the bush sulphur butterfly, Urema dina helios





Attracts generalist pollinators.

Birds eat the seed. 





Dispersal is by birds and gravity.

Native Habitats:

Tropical rockland hammock.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

Used as a tonic.

General Comments:

Listed as Endangered by the FDACS.  Please acquire only from reputable sources that have any needed permits.



This has been known to escape outside of its range when cultivated.  

Citations:

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?rep=rep1&type=pdf&doi=10.1.1.214.3640 .... dispersal, pollinators



Chapin, Linda.  2000.  Field guide to the rare plants of Florida.  Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Tallahassee, FL.   https://www.fnai.org/FieldGuide/pdf/Picramnia_pentandra.pdf



de Figueiredo, Rodolfo & Sazima, Marlies. (2007). Phenology and Pollination Biology of Eight Peperomia Species (Piperaceae) in Semideciduous Forests in Southeastern Brazil. Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany). 9. 136-141. 10.1055/s-2006-924543. --- pollination



Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell.  1999.  Native Florida Plants.  Gulf Publishing Company.  Houston, TX.



Osorio, Rufino. 2001. A gardener's guide to Florida's native Plants.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021.  Atlas of Florida Plants  ( http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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