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Bundles of color! This is a close look at the beautiful Psammisia sodiroi from rain forests around Ecuador. This unusual blueberry relative makes showy clusters of red blooms with lime green tips that are star-shaped. These colorful blooms hang from orange flower stems under each leaf. This is another prized collector's plant that's rarely seen in cultivation, except in a few botanical gardens. I don't know anyone else offering it.
In the wild, it grows both as an epiphyte on trees and in the ground. It's a robust plant, with long, arching stems that get 10-12 feet long - which you may prune shorter if necessary. Its large leaves are thick and leathery, growing about 8 inches long. The flower clusters appear most months of the year. Each cluster is about 2 inches long and usually has between 5 and 15 blooms, which are thick & waxy. These tubular blooms are pollinated by hummingbirds in the wild. After pollination it makes small berries which are reportedly edible. It grows well between about 55 and 85°F (13-29°C). It can probably grow outdoors in Florida and Southern California if protected from frost. It likes very bright, filtered light. Some direct sun is fine if it isn't strong. It prefers a loose, "chunky" soil mix that's slightly acidic. A typical mix is 1 part small-grade orchid bark, 1 part peat moss or coco fiber, and 1 part perlite, coarse sand, or pumice rock. Keep the soil evenly moist. Over about 50% humidity is best. In the right conditions, it's an easy, vigorous plant.
Photos used with permission of Martin Grantham
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