Jatropha Species, Firecracker, Peregrina, Spicy Jatropha
Jatropha integerrima
Family: | Euphorbiaceae (yoo-for-bee-AY-see-ee) (Info) |
Genus: | Jatropha (JAT-roh-fuh) (Info) |
Species: | integerrima (in-teg-er-EE-muh) (Info) |
Synonym: | Jatropha hastata |
Synonym: | Jatropha pandurifolia |

Category:
Shrubs
Water Requirements:
Drought-tolerant; suitable for xeriscaping
Sun Exposure:
Full Sun
Sun to Partial Shade
Light Shade
Foliage:
Evergreen
Smooth
Foliage Color:
Medium Green
Height:
8-10 ft. (2.4-3 m)
Spacing:
6-8 ft. (1.8-2.4 m)
Hardiness:
USDA Zone 9b: to -3.8 °C (25 °F)
USDA Zone 10a: to -1.1 °C (30 °F)
USDA Zone 10b: to 1.7 °C (35 °F)
USDA Zone 11: above 4.5 °C (40 °F)
Where to Grow:
Danger:
All parts of plant are poisonous if ingested
Bloom Color:
Scarlet (dark red)
Coral/Apricot
Red-Orange
Bloom Characteristics:
Bloom Size:
Bloom Time:
Blooms all year
Blooms repeatedly
Other details:
Soil pH requirements:
Patent Information:
Non-patented
Propagation Methods:
From woody stem cuttings
From seed; direct sow outdoors in fall
Seed Collecting:
Allow seedheads to dry on plants; remove and collect seeds
Regional
This plant is said to grow outdoors in the following regions:
Mobile, Alabama
Cave Creek, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Los Angeles, California
San Diego, California
Bartow, Florida
Bokeelia, Florida
Bradenton, Florida(2 reports)
Bradley, Florida
Brooksville, Florida
Clearwater, Florida
Deland, Florida
Delray Beach, Florida
Deltona, Florida(2 reports)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida(3 reports)
Fort Pierce, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Hobe Sound, Florida
Hollywood, Florida
Indialantic, Florida
Jupiter, Florida
Keystone Heights, Florida
Lake Wales, Florida
Lakeland, Florida
Lecanto, Florida
Marco Island, Florida
Merritt Island, Florida
Miami, Florida(2 reports)
Naples, Florida
Oakland, Florida
Oldsmar, Florida
Orlando, Florida(2 reports)
Ormond Beach, Florida
Palm Coast, Florida
Plant City, Florida
Pompano Beach, Florida(2 reports)
Port Charlotte, Florida
Port Saint Lucie, Florida
Riverview, Florida
Rockledge, Florida
Saint Cloud, Florida
Saint Petersburg, Florida(3 reports)
Sarasota, Florida
Satellite Beach, Florida
Sebring, Florida
Umatilla, Florida
Valrico, Florida
Venice, Florida
Vero Beach, Florida(2 reports)
Wellborn, Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida(2 reports)
Winter Springs, Florida
Zolfo Springs, Florida
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Kenner, Louisiana
Reserve, Louisiana
Schriever, Louisiana
Roslindale, Massachusetts
Brookings, Oregon
Harbor, Oregon
Grenoble, Rhône-Alpes
Saint Helena Island, South Carolina
Baytown, Texas(2 reports)
Edcouch, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Hallettsville, Texas
Harlingen, Texas(2 reports)
Houston, Texas(7 reports)
Huntsville, Texas
La Porte, Texas
Midway, Texas
Port Lavaca, Texas
Rockport, Texas
Round Rock, Texas
San Antonio, Texas(3 reports)
San Benito, Texas
Boinville-en-Mantois, ÃŽle-de-France
show allGardeners' Notes:
Rating | Content |
---|---|
Positive | On Mar 5, 2017, fixerupper from Pompano Beach, FL wrote: I picked this up at a plant sale many years ago because it was a butterfly plant. I am so glad I did because I've had zebra longwing colonies ever since. They love this plant. |
Positive | On Jul 9, 2014, coriaceous from ROSLINDALE, MA wrote: A wonderful container plant here, blooming nonstop summer into fall. Winters over easily stored indoors, though it drops its leaves when dormant and sometimes gets scale (easily taken care of). Doesn't mind being cut back hard. |
Positive | On Jul 8, 2014, santamiller from San Antonio, TX wrote: This plant does great potted and moved into the house or garage for the winter but also will survive most winters outside here in San Antonio. It will die to the ground and be among one the last things to show back up after a cold winter but will eventually start growing quickly once it emerges. We had an exceptionally cold winter last year and I wrote it off but it started showing growth probably early to mid May. It takes until at least mid summer for it to start blooming but will remain in bloom through the fall. Very drought hearty in the ground once established. |
Positive | On Jul 7, 2014, ardesia from Jacksonville, FL (Zone 9a) wrote: During an unusually cold winter this plant will freeze to the ground in my zone (9A) but it promptly returns from the roots as soon as it warms up again. |
Neutral | On Feb 6, 2012, morningloree from Heathrow, FL wrote: I live in Lake Mary, which is Zone 9b. I would not say this plant is hardy in this area. It dies down every winter and while it grows back, it is a struggle for the plant. I unfortunately have them planted with Allamanda, which behave the same way in my yard. Waiting for my brown sticks to show signs of life... |
Negative | On Sep 2, 2011, saltcedar from Austin, TX (Zone 8b) wrote: Dead at 16f after a 3-day freeze. |
Positive | On Apr 19, 2011, evansedits from Puerto Vallarta, I love the color of the blossoms, but the leaves yellow and drop frequently. It's in a large pot, trained as a tree, and I live in Puerto Vallarta, so it's not a climate issue. Am I overwatering it? |
Neutral | On Jan 30, 2011, sunkissed from Winter Springs, FL (Zone 9b) wrote: Bought this beautiful plant a local nursery in spring of 2008 and planted it in the ground since it said was freeze hardy to temps to 25 degrees. Grew really fast that first year and had many wonderful bright red flowers. Then it froze to the ground in temperatures in mid twenties in Dec. 2008. It did come back that next spring and grew as big as it was the year before and bloomed very nicely, not as much as the year before but still striking in the garden....then it froze again when temps dipped into the upper twenties in winter of 2009. Once again is came back last spring but this year it grew only half the height of last year and bloomed only a few flowers and of course it froze to the ground again this winter when we had two nights of upper twenties for more than six hours each night. ... read more |
Positive | On Apr 3, 2010, CostaRica from Guayabo de Bagaces, Guanacaste, Love this plant as do 'our' hummingbirds. |
Positive | On Jan 25, 2010, gobright from Edcouch, TX wrote: this tree is wonderful but would like to know how to prune since we had 28 degree weather here in the Rio Grande Valley for over 5 hours 3 nights in a row covered it but have lost all of the leaves How do I prune???? |
Positive | On Jul 25, 2009, fullsun007 from Gainesville, FL wrote: I have had this plant in my yard for 2 years now in Gainesville Florida (Zone 8B). In early 2009 we had 2 nights back to back with lows of 21oF (during which the plant received no protective mulching or cover) . This did kill all leaves and branches, however, by late April fresh growth emerged from the base of the plant, now in July it is almost 4 feet tall and covered in those really nice pinkish/red flowers. This plant is well worth trying north of its recommended zone 9B. |
Positive | On Jun 26, 2009, akacrystal from San Antonio, TX wrote: Here in San Antonio, finding a plant that flowers well in part shade is nearly impossible. Camellias yellow, hydrangeas wilt, and I did a lot of crying. This plant is getting about 5 hours of morning/early afternoon sun and is loving it. I know it may die back for the winter but I don't care. (Winter only lasts about 3 months here anyway.) The leaves are a dark green so they mayke a nice backdrop. I also like the way it blends with blue plumbago. Home depot carries them and I saw today the Rainbow Gardens on thousand oaks is carrying them also. |
Positive | On Oct 22, 2008, tropicaldude from Orlando, FL wrote: This plant is from Cuba. In climates that are frost-free it can grow beautifully as a small open tree dotted with rather evenly-spaced red flowers all over. |
Neutral | On Aug 11, 2008, kaliz9 from Bozeman, MT wrote: I would like info about its origin etc...is it from Africa? It''s |
Positive | On Jul 7, 2008, jen6580 from Bradenton, FL wrote: These are wonderful plants. Continuous color and does better when you trim it back. I have 4 in my yard but only one is a bush the other 3 have been trained into trees. Do keep in mind that these plants are posionous. |
Positive | On Jun 19, 2008, rcharding from Valdosta, GA (Zone 8b) wrote: I first had a jatropha when I lived in Miami, and I fell in love with it. Here in Mobile (AL) it grows very well from March to December. Then it dies back during our short, pitiful excuse for winter (about 7 weeks) and then comes back from the root. I have 5 planted in the ground and they are beautiful. |
Positive | On Apr 28, 2008, mrickett from Lawrenceville, GA wrote: I purchased my first plant, the compact variety, last year. It arrived in a small pot and was just a little over five inches tall. By the end of summer it was over three feet tall and loaded with flowers. It is a magnet for butterflies and hummingbirds. I kept it as a pot specimen and overwintered it in my garage. The leaves fell off since my garage is not heated. I cut it back in February. It has new shoots and looks great. This spring I bought another compact hybrid from Almost Eden and two from Pike's Nursery. Not sure if they are compact or standard. This is a beautiful specimen that will give you nonstop flowers. |
Positive | On Sep 14, 2007, Lily_love from Central, AL (Zone 7b) wrote: I found this plant at a local garden center. The last one left, and I noticed mealy bugs on it. But I couldn't resist its beauty. Brought it home, get rid of the mealy bugs with rubbing alcohol swap. It blooms, and yields lovely seedpods. Will update my finding with its progress as I observe it in our region. Overwinter indoor. |
Positive | On May 1, 2007, scottslomba from Orlando, FL (Zone 9b) wrote: In full sun the leaves maintain a lush green color and the plant blooms constantly all year in Orlando, Fl. I bought 2 potted plants and was able to separate into 4 plants which quickly grew to about 6' high and have stayed at that height for more than a year. Bugs devoured some nearby Butterfly Weed but never disturbed the Jatropha. Highly drought tolerant. Regularly available at Lowes. |
Positive | On Feb 28, 2005, artcons from Fort Lauderdale, FL (Zone 10b) wrote: With it's deep green foliage and brillant red flowers this bush is a very colorful addition to my yard. It's butterfly attracting deep red flowers bloom all year giving my flying garden friends the nectar they need in the wintertime. If it's not pruned on a regular basis it will grow out of control. As a large bush it becomes top heavy with growth and flowers and barren of them at the bottom (very leggy looking.) I keep my three bushes about five to six feet tall. I did notice when I prune, shoots appear from the roots about a foot away from the main trunk. The flowers attract a variety of butterflies. They are easy to start from cuttings. |
Positive | On Jan 22, 2005, Kauai17 from Leander, TX (Zone 8b) wrote: We bought and planted our Spicy Jatropha last Spring and it took off! The flowers are a really pretty color and they bloom for a long period of time. It helped to attract many hummingbirds and butterflies to the yard! |
Positive | On Aug 25, 2004, plwiseman from Midway, TX wrote: I live in Texas and I bought this plant at the beggining of the spring. I have it in a pot outside on the patio and it has grown very fast and has very pretty dark red blooms that the hummingbirds are very attracted to. I want to plant it in the yard but I do not want it to die back in the winter so I am going to have to keep it in the pot and bring it inside. This plant/shrub is very pretty. I have enjoyed it very much. It demands little care. |
Positive | On Aug 24, 2004, salvia_lover from Modi'in, I couldn't say enough positive things about this plant. It grows quickly, looks beautiful , and is so low maintenence. The only reason I ever need to prune it is because I stupidly placed the stepping stones too close to it, not realizing how large it would grow. In the winter it looks a bit sad after such a happy cherrful appearance in spring, summer and fall, but you can't blame it for that. Close up those blooms are just magnificent. And from far off, the entire plant is just a show-stopper. If you need a bush to add color and little work, this is your plant. I just noticed there weren't any photos of the entire plant here so I'm going to add one. Ours is 2 meters tall and 3 meters wide now (13 months ago when we planted it, it ws only a single 60cm tall center branch with a few measly... read more |
Positive | On Jun 3, 2003, IlonaGordon from San Antonio, TX wrote: We live in San Antonio, Texas and our Jatropha died completely back this last winter (it was 25 degrees). But, it grew back from the ground and it's up and running again and growing fast. It has dark red flowers with dark green foliage. Very tropical looking. |
Positive | On Jan 11, 2003, Chamma from Tennille, GA (Zone 8b) wrote: Wonderful colorful shrub that is native to the West Indies. |
Positive | On Nov 2, 2002, IslandJim from Keizer, OR (Zone 8b) wrote: Nice plant. Makes a wonderful small, or patio, tree. Here in zone 10a, it blooms almost all year. |