Red-hot Cat Tail Acalypha hispida

Chenille Plant is a tropical shrub in the spurge family that grows 4-6 feet tall and 5-8 feet wide and has long drooping pendant flowers up to 18 inches long with a long bloom season. In NC it can be grown as an annual bedding plant or a house plant because it cannot survive our winters outdoors.

It tolerates a wide range of soil pH and soil textures including clay soils and it likes moderate moisture but not too wet.  It has some drought tolerance once established, but it does not tolerate salt.  It grows well as an indoor plant or in a container on a patio or rooftop garden that can be brought in during the winter.  Prune it back to 6" above the soil once a year to encourage new bushy growth and more flowers.  Indoor plants should be fed monthly from spring through summer and they like their leaves misted (not the flowers) to increase humidity levels.  In zones 10-11 it can be grown as a hedge, specimen or container plant.

Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems:  Mostly trouble free but mealybugs, scale, and red spider mites are occasional problems.

VIDEO Created by Elisabeth Meyer for "Houseplants, Succulents, and Cacti", a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.   

More information on Acalypha.