Scientific Name
Psychotria capensis (Eckl.) Vatke
Common Name(s)
Black Bird Berry, Bird Berry, Bastard Lemonwood, Lemon Bush
Synonym(s)
Logania capensis, Grumilea capensis, Grumilea cymosa, Grumilea globosa, Grumilea oblanceolata, Psychotria capensis subsp. capensis, Psychotria capensis var. capensis, Psychotria eckloniana, Psychotria zambesiana, Uragoga capensis, Uragoga zambesiana
Scientific Classification
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Rubioideae
Tribe: Psychotrieae
Genus: Psychotria
Origin
This species is native to South African south and east coasts, from Knysna through the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Flower
Color: Golden yellow
Bloom Time: Spring to midsummer
Description
Psychotria capensis is an evergreen shrub or small tree with a slender stem, horizontal branches, and pale brown bark. It grows up to 26 feet (8 m) tall. Leaves are shiny light to dark green above and paler below, smooth and leathery. They are elliptic to obovate, opposite, often drooping, up to 6 inches (15 cm) long and up to 2.4 inches (6 cm) wide.
From spring to midsummer, golden yellow flowers are borne in flattish terminal branched heads up to 3.2 inches (8 cm) in diameter. In late summer to winter, the flowers are followed by large flat clusters of pea-sized shiny yellow fruits ripening to red or black.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zone 9a to 11b: from 20 °F (−6.7 °C) to 50 °F (+10 °C).
How to Grow and Care
Hot Lips grows where the soil is rich and humid from leaf litter, moist, and sheltered from the most powerful sun rays by upper-story trees. Interior growers turn to plants from around the world to add exotic touches to the home. Hot Lips plant fits the bill but requires a tropical environment. For this reason, it is mostly a collector's plant for much of the United States.
Growing Hot Lips plants requires a heated greenhouse or solarium, high humidity, and shelter from harsh solar rays. Growing the Hot Lips plant means mimicking the tropical understory environment for which it is suited. Most potting soil will not have both the excellent drainage and moisture retentiveness necessary to raise these plants. Add a bit of vermiculite and peat moss before potting up the plant. Place it in an area with temperatures of at least 70ºF (21ºC), a humidity of at least 60%, and bright indirect lighting.
See more at How to Grow and Care for Hot Lips Plant.
Links
- Back to genus Psychotria
- Plantpedia: Browse flowering plants by Scientific Name, Common Name, Genus, Family, USDA Hardiness Zone, or Origin
Photo Gallery
Click on a photo to see a larger version.
