Portia Tree

Thespesia populnea

Found in Coastal strands, coastal berms, hammocks, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

-85

Severe harm

Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 6%

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Do not plant. Listed invasive in Florida.

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 14 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Coastal Plain hammocks

Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 85 animals.

American Avocet
Recurvirostra americana
Birds. 1 shared habitat
American Black Duck
Anas rubripes
Birds. 1 shared habitat
American Coot
Fulica americana
Birds. 1 shared habitat
American Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos
Birds. 1 shared habitat
American Flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber
Birds. 1 shared habitat
American Redstart
Setophaga ruticilla
Birds. 1 shared habitat
American White Pelican
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Anhinga
Anhinga anhinga
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Belted Kingfisher
Megaceryle alcyon
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Black-and-White Warbler
Mniotilta varia
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Dendrocygna autumnalis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Black-crowned Night-heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Dendroica caerulescens
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Black-whiskered Vireo
Vireo altiloquus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Boat-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus major
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Broad-winged Hawk
Buteo platypterus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Brown Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Chimney Swift
Chaetura pelagica
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Common Grackle
Quiscalus quiscula
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Common Myna
Acridotheres tristis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Common Yellowthroat
Geothlypis trichas
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Cooper's Hawk
Accipiter cooperii
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Double-crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus
Birds. 1 shared habitat

All wildlife of Florida

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Thespesia

Anomis luridulaStraight Edge Scalloped Moth
Automeris ioIo Moth
Erechthias minusculaCaribbean Scavenger Moth
Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist beesPollen specialists

—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Malvaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rank	SNA
Global rank	Not available
FL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source

Native alternatives

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