Bahama Wild Coffee
Psychotria ligustrifolia
Bahama Wild Coffee is more drought tolerant than Shiny Leaf Wild Coffee. Once established, it rarely wilts, even during a dry spell. It does well in both full sun and moderate shade. Bahama Wild Coffee makes a nice low ground cover that can be kept below four feet easily and rarely grows taller than six feet with no trimming.
The clusters of small white flowers attract butterflies and bees and the red berries produced in the fall are eaten by many bird species. These are edible, yet not very tasty.
This is an endangered shrub of the Florida Keys, yet is easy to propagate from seed collected in local plantings. If you are having trouble with the large size of Shiny Leaf Coffee, Psychotria nervosa, then try this compact shrub.
Mix with Coontie, Beach Creeper, Beach Elder, Snowberry, Spiderlily, Beach Cocoplum and Quailberry in areas where a low to no maintenance cover is needed.
There is a clone called “Gann’s Mound” which honors the native plant growers Don and Joyce Gann. This is propagated by cuttings and stays very low. It makes a good replacement for the boring, overused Green Island Ficus that we see everywhere.
Bahama Wild Coffee, along with many others may get various scale insect pests. These are controlled with “Organocide” or “Neem” oil which are harmless to humans and safe for wildlife.