Aphelandra squarrosa

Plant Characteristics

Habit		herbaceous

Cultivation

Scientific Names

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Aphelandra squarrosa (Zebra Plant) is a plant species in the family Acanthaceae, which is native to Atlantic Forest vegetation of Brazil. This plant is often used as a house plant. This plant is cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius.

Read about Aphelandra squarrosa in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Aphelandra squarrosa, Nées (A. Leopoldii, Hort. A. chrysops, Bull). Lvs. large, ovate to ovate-elliptic, acuminate, dark green above (pale below), with white rib and main veins: infl. a simple, erect, or compound spike, up to 1 ft. long; fls. pale yellow and exserted one-third their length beyond the yellow crenate-dentate bracts. Brazil. A. squarrosa itself is not in cult., the showy plant in the trade (and described herewith) being Var. Lèopoldii, Van Houtte. Var. Loùisae, Van Houtte. Dwarfer and smaller in all its parte than var. Leopoldii: St. slender, dark reddish green, terete, covered in parte with soft pilose hairs, upper part of the st. below the infl. quite glabrous: Lvs. 3-5 in. long, elliptic, rich dark green with brighter colored silvery markings along the midrib and principal veins: inn. 3-fl in. long, unbranched; bracts ovate, ¾ in. long, rich dark yellow, with green markings in the middle; fls. exserted beyond the bracts over half their length, rich canary-yellow, ½ in. diam., lower 3 petals forming a lip and reflexed, upper 2 hooded, reflexing with age; tube broad, broadening out upwards with a narrow base, 1¼ in. long. Brazil. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

This plant likes lots of light, but not direct. It does not bloom often, but it can be encouraged to bloom by prolonged daily exposure to light. It is also very sensitive to moisture content. Too much or too little water will cause the lower leaves to brown and fall off. It likes to be kept moist but not wet. On average needs small amounts of water often rather than a thorough watering once in a while.

The plant flourishes when the temperature is in the range of 65-70F; and will suffer if the temperature drops below 60F for a prolonged period.

Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Aphelandra squarrosa. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Aphelandra squarrosa QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)