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Picramnia antidesma is a shrub or small tree from wet tropical forests of Mexico, Central America and the Greater Antilles, known in folk medicine as a bitter remedy. It is rarely grown as a garden or houseplant, so the care notes below are general guidance for a warm, humid tropical tree.
Picramnia antidesma (also known as Chilillo, Majoe bitters, or Macary bitters) is a species of plant in the Picramniaceae family, native to Mexico, Central America, and the Greater Antilles.
In his posthumously published work Hortus Americanus, surgeon and naturalist Henry Barham credits an "old negro woman," Majoe, with using the plant as a treatment for yaws and venereal disease. Barham describes seeing the plant growing near St. Jago de la Vega in Jamaica and its use among enslaved people in the area.
Picramnia bullata · Picramnia parvifolia · Picramnia xalapensis · Bitterbush
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Picramnia antidesma by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
