Acalypha wilkesiana, Acalypha hispida and Hybrids

Acalypha is one of my favorite genus of tropical/sub-tropical shrubs. It's not grown for the flowers(except A. hispida) but its beautiful foliage as you can see by the fine examples here! This plant has been in cultivation for many years so there is many hybrids and not much info on getting a proper id. I grow these all over the yard in all sorts of conditions and they grow reliably. The only maintenance is occasional trimming. Another bonus is that since they are related to poinsettia Euphorbia pulcherrima it turns reddish when the days get shorter. All these plants are in my yard!

Copperleaf Acalypha wilkesiana
Family: Euphorbiaceae •
Genus: Acalypha •
Species: wilkesiana •
Country of Origin: Fiji •
Common Names: Joseph's coat, fire-dragon, match-me-if-you-can •

Chenille Plant Acalypha hispida
Family: Euphorbiaceae •
Genus: Acalypha •
Species: hispida (Burm.f.) •
Country of Origin: E. Indies •
Common Names: red-hot cattail, foxtail, red-hot cat's tail •




Acalypha 'Eric's Acalypha' this one is a sport [mutation] that was growing off one of the other plants. I propagated it and walla my own hybrid!




Acalypha hispida or chenille plant, red-hot cattail, foxtail, red-hot cat's tail
(Acalypha hispida)




Acalypha wilkesiana hybrid




Acalypha wilkesiana hybrid



Acalypha wilkesiana 'Dwarf Copperleaf Lanceleaf'




Acalypha 'Inferno'




Acalypha wilkesiana hybrid




Acalypha wilkesiana hybrid

(Acalypha wilkesiana)



Acalypha wilkesiana, Acalypha hispida and hybrids by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.flickr.com