Pithecellobium keyense is a small tree or shrub. It is native to south Florida and the Florida Keys, Belize, Guatemala, Cuba, Mexico, and the Bahamas archipelago. The rockland hammock, coastal dune, and pine rockland habitat in which this species occurs is relatively scarce. However, P. keyense is abundant within these communities, and much of its habitat is protected. No significant future threats have been identified. It is therefore assessed as Least Concern.

Pithecellobium keyense is a small tree or shrub. It is native to south Florida and the Florida Keys, Belize, Cuba, Mexico, and the Bahamas archipelago.

Pithecellobium keyense is a common species throughout much of its range (Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve 2023).

Pithecellobium keyense is a large shrub or small tree. It occurs in coastal hammocks and barrens as well as pine rockland. It prefers sandy or limestone soils, and is tolerant of short term inundation by salt water due to storm surge (Florida Wildflower Foundation 2022).

The rockland hammock habitat in which Pithecellobium keyense is found is considered imperilled in southern Florida due to anthropogenic and natural threats such as fragmentation caused by development, sea level rise, erosion, and hurricanes (Richard et al. 2017). In the Yucatan Peninsula, the coastal dune communities where P. keyense occurs are estimated to have lost half of their original territory (Durán et al. 2007, Torres et al. 2010).

The common name (Florida Keys Blackbead) is a reference to the black seeds, which have been used as beads for jewellery. This plant has also been recorded to be rich in tannins and used medicinally to stop bleeding. In the Bahamas, leafy twigs have been chewed or used as a tea to stop bleeding in early to mid-pregnancy (Florida Wildflower Foundation 2022).

This species is listed as a threatened plant in the Preservation of Native Flora of Florida Act. According to BGCI's PlantSearch Database, it is held in 11 ex situ institutions worldwide (BGCI 2023). In south Florida, much of the threatened rockland habitat in which P. keyense occurs is protected within preserves managed by Miami-Dade County, the State, and the U.S. Department of Interior. In the Florida Keys, the species has been identified in 27 unique conservation areas (Gann 2005-2022). In the Yucatan Peninsula, P. keyense is a common species within the Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Leirana-Alcocer and Bautista 2014).