PlantFiles: Pyramid Bush, Wooly Pyramid Bush, Tea Bush, Raichie, Broom Weed
Melochia tomentosa

I love this plant! It is completely care-free. I do not have an issue with it seeding out, perhaps because it is in a bed that often becomes overwhelmed with an artemisia, ...but that's another story. It blooms all summer, and is definitely attractive to butterflies. It propagates easily from cuttings and is a favorite of those who visit my garden in the warm months.

This small erect shrub is a member of the Chocolate Family, It grows natively in southern Florida and southern Texas through the West Indies and Central America into Brazil and Colombia. In Texas, the species can be found on sandy or rocky soil in dry streambeds, mesquite thickets and palm groves. It inhabits pinelands in southern Florida. In Brazil, it is thrives in the sandy soils of the coastal plain. Pyramid bush grows in dry areas and adapts to a wide variety of well-drained soils that are derived from igneous and sedimentary rocks. It is an excellent xeriscape plant that grows quickly and provides lots of color in the heat of the summer.

In less than two months, a fair-sized transplant may reach its mature size of two feet by two feet. It requires little water even when establishing itself due to the taproot and lateral roots being formed very quickly. Normally, it is single stemmed; but, it may branch near the base The bark is tan to slate-gray colored with many lenticels and moderately hard. The branches at the outer edges of the plant are slender and somewhat fragile. I have broken them when cleaning mulch from the base of the plant. It will die to the ground during hard freezes; but, it returns very quickly in the spring and attains its mature height and width quickly as well.

The ovate to lanciolate, 1.5 to 10.5 cm long by 0.9 to 8.5 cm wide leaves are covered with a short wooly hair giving the plant a gray flannel look and are attached by short petioles. They have serrated margins. The 8 to 13.5 mm long, 5-petaled blooms are a beautiful bright, violet to violet-pink. It produces pyramidal capsules that are 6 to 9 mm across and which contain reddish brown, 2 mm long seeds.

In a natural habitat, it contributes to wildlife cover, soil stability and bio-diversity. Sheep and goats tend to munch it when it is growing with other native plants they like, but cattle tend to leave it alone. Bees and butterflies love the blooms’ nectar. A tea can be made from the foliage to treat colds and as an eye wash.

The pyramid bush makes an excellent border plant in areas that do not receive very much water. It is a great choice for rock gardens and wildscapes. With its lovely blooms that are ever present until the first frost, unusual and full foliage and compact size, pyramid bush as a great plant to use in the landscape. It is difficult to find specimens in nurseries. I love mine so much, I am going to buy another one if and when I am able to locate one.