# Conjurer's-nut (Nestronia umbellula)

> A rare low shrub of dry southern oak and pine woods that draws on the roots of the plants around it and spreads into large colonies.

Also called Indian olive, nestronia, leechbrush. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/conjurers-nut/

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 1 to 4 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 8
- Grows wild in: Dry uplands, sandy barrens and the forest understory
- Native range: 8 states, north to Virginia, south to Georgia and west to Mississippi (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia)
- Sun: Part, Full
- Soil moisture: Dry, Average
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Rare
- Sold as: Saplings

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Conjurer's-nut is a rare low shrub of the sandalwood family, found in open oak and pine woods of the Southeast. It ranges from Virginia and Kentucky south to Alabama and Mississippi, mostly in the Piedmont. It makes its own food in its leaves, but its roots also attach to the roots of nearby plants and draw nutrients from them. Plants are male or female, and most colonies are all one or the other, so fruit is seldom seen. Kentucky and Tennessee list it as endangered, and Georgia lists it as rare. Set it in open, sandy woods among oaks or pines, where its roots can reach a host.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Conjurer's-nut grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It makes a low, upright shrub 1 to 4 feet tall, with smooth, dark purplish brown stems. Its opposite leaves are 1 to 2.5 inches long, dark yellow-green above and paler beneath, and they drop early in autumn.

Small, pale yellow-green flowers open in April and May, the male ones in little clusters and the female ones single. Fruit is seldom set, but where it forms, a round, fleshy, greenish-yellow fruit about half an inch across ripens from June into August.

It grows wild in open woods of oak, hickory and pine, often among low shrubs of the heath family. It has been found at more than 50 sites in Georgia since 1931, but only 16 have been confirmed since 2000.

## How to grow Conjurer's-nut

Conjurer's-nut grows in open woods, in light shade or sun. It takes deep sand, sandy loam or sandy clay. The soil may be dry or moist and is most often acid. Its roots attach to the roots of nearby oaks, pines, blackberries and other plants, so set it where such hosts already grow. Plant it 3 feet from a wall and set plants 3 feet apart. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant it close to an established host, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper, and put the native soil back in. It is hard to raise. It seldom sets fruit, since most colonies are all male or all female. It spreads instead by underground stems into large colonies.

Water weekly through the first summer if rain is short. A colony can live for decades, though each stem probably lives less than seven years. Logging or clearing that removes its hosts kills it too. Periodic woods fires do it no lasting harm, so long as the hosts survive.

Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. Bees, flies and beetles visit the flowers for their nectar and pollen.

## Sources

- [NatureServe Explorer: Nestronia umbellula, Nestronia](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.154456/Nestronia_umbellula)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 12: Nestronia umbellula](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220009214)
- [Kral, R. 1983. A report on some rare, threatened, or endangered forest-related vascular plants of the South. USDA Forest Service Technical Publication R8-TP2, vol. 1, pp. 304 to 307, Nestronia umbellula](https://archive.org/details/CAT84807330_01)
- [USDA Forest Service, Celebrating Wildflowers, Plant of the Week: Indian olive (Nestronia umbellula Raf.), by Cindy Wentworth](https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/nestronia_umbellula.shtml)
- [Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Nestronia umbellula, Indian Olive](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=18249)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Nestronia umbellula](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=NEUM)
- [Carolina Nature, Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina: Nestronia (Nestronia umbellula), by Will Cook](http://www.carolinanature.com/trees/neum.html)
- [Tennessee Natural Heritage Program: Rare Plant List 2025](https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/natural-areas/documents/na_tn-rare-plant-list.pdf)
- [Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves: Kentucky Rare Plant List, September 30, 2022](https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/biodiversity/Documents/2022%20Kentucky%20Rare%20Plant%20List%202.pdf)
- [Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage: Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia: Rare Plants, June 2026](https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf)
- [Alabama Natural Heritage Program: 2023 tracking list](https://cosam.auburn.edu/biology/alnhp/_assets/2023_trackinglist.pdf)
- [Mississippi Natural Heritage Program: Special Plants Tracking List, 2018](https://www.mdwfp.com/sites/default/files/2024-03/special-plant-tracking-list-2018.pdf)
- [Tennessee-Kentucky Plant Atlas: Nestronia umbellula](https://tennessee-kentucky.plantatlas.usf.edu/plant/species/1957)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Conjurer's-nut, add ?species=conjurers-nut with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=conjurers-nut&zone=7&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Conjurer's-nut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=conjurers-nut): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=conjurers-nut
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Conjurer's-nut is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=conjurers-nut
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Conjurer's-nut needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=conjurers-nut:3
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Conjurer's-nut flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.