| Login Register (Free!) |
| |
|
||
|
|
|||
|
Member Pages |
Turk's turban or tubeflower is a semiwoody shrub or returning perennial, 6-9 ft (1.8-2.7 m) tall and only slightly, if at all, branched. The stem is hollow and the leaves are elliptic and 6-8 in (15-20 cm)long, borne in whorls of four on very short petioles. The inflorescence is huge, consisting of many tubular snow white flowers in a terminal cluster up to 2 ft (0.6 m) long. The tubes of the flowers are about 4 in (10 cm) long and droop downward, and the expanded corollas are about 2 in (5 cm) across. The fruits are attractive dark metallic blue drupes, about a half inch in diameter.
Tubeflower is native to the Malay Archipelago. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental and has become naturalized in South America, the West Indies and much of the southern U.S., where it grows in disturbed sites and especially along road shoulders.
Culture
Use tubeflower in mixed shrub or perennial borders. It works well in small groups, but is not suitable for hedging because of its upright, nonbranching habit. The flowers are very showy, but the plant itself is rather coarse and unattractive. It looks best in a cluster with other tall, few branched plants like castor bean (Ricinus communis),scarlet hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus), and sunflowers (Helianthus annuus.
Features
Steve Christman 10/10/00; updated 11/15/02, 9/7/03
|
Newest Plant Profiles:
|
|||||||||||||||||
WARNING