Also known as firespike or cardinal's guard, this plant grows 3-5 feet tall in full sun to half shade. Blooms appear in clusters at the tips of the stems and the inflorescence continues to elongate throughout the flowering period.
Odontonema strictum is native to Central America and is recommended for USDA Zones 8-11. Frost will damage the foliage, but the plants quickly re-sprout from remaining green stems, or from the crown of the plant at soil level.
O. strictum is considered to be synonymous with O. cuspidatum.
Related reading: Odontonema callistachyum
2 comments:
Hi Jim, i have not been here for quite a while. I also have Odontonema and it's been here since time began! I've been cutting and throwing it under the trees and yet they still grow under those very shaded areas, though the spikes here are shorter. I wonder though why i haven't seen the butterflies there, maybe because there are lots of more accessible and nectarful flowers.
Andrea, It's the Zebra Longwing butterfly that I see on them most often. It's likely the butterfly species in your area have other favorites.
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