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Parietaria floridana Nutt.
Florida Pellitory
Florida native
A frequent herbaceous plant of hammocks and disturbed sites in most of the peninsula and some panhandle counties. Distributed mostly in the coastal plain from Texas to North Carolina, plus scattered locations in Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and New Hampshire. The range includes the West Indies, Mexico and South America.
An annual or short-lived perennial growing 10-40cm (4 to 16 in.) tall, many-branched, decumbent or ascending. Leaves mostly ovate, varying from deltate to orbiculate, 7-27mm (1/4 to 1 in.) long and 5-17mm (up to 2/3 in.) wide. The tiny flowers in the leaf axils have bracts and tepals that are both about 1.5mm (1/16 in.) long.
Pelitory is a host plant for the Red Admiral butterfly.
Parietaria floridana is a member of the Urticaceae - Nettle family.
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 08, 2025
