Phytolacca icosandra

Tropical pokeweed

Family: Phytolaccaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Tropical pokeweed is a naturalized perennial found in San Diego County and on Otay Mountain in disturbed areas and chrome ore piles at elevations of 10 to 400 meters. Flowering from summer to winter, this plant produces white or pink to pale reddish flowers in spikes up to 30 centimeters long. Growing up to 3 meters tall with multiple stems, it develops a robust and spreading habit. Its large leaves are elliptic to obovate, measuring up to 30 centimeters long and 15 centimeters wide, with petioles ranging from 0.5 to 6 centimeters. The fruit is a distinctive purple-black berry approximately 7 to 8 millimeters in diameter, containing shiny black seeds.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, chrome ore piles

Bloom period: Summer-winter

Elevation: 10-400 m

Bioregions: SCo (San Diego Co.), PR (Otay Mtn)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.