Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Jatropha podagrica, Gout plant

   Gout-plant1
The flowers of Jatropha podagrica, Gout plant-Flowers Close Up
This is the coolest plant anyone can grow! It has a large bottle-like caudexes and huge leaves can grow up to 10-12 inches in diameter. The more shade, the bigger the leaves. The leaves are in dark green color, it is a very great decoration to match any home design. It can make into great natural bonsai, and always have flowers blooming even kept in door.  This showy plant grows about 2-3 ft high, with a knobby, swollen stem and red flowers in large terminal clusters. I was told the Propagation is by seeds, which are produced freely and germinate easily. When the seeds ripen, they burst open, so watch them to turn brown before you miss them jumping away! I have kept this potted plants for almost one year, at least 6 rounds of blooming yet I have not collected any seed yet.
 Gout-plant2Gout-plant3

1 comment:

ramblingwoods said...

That is a neat looking plant. My mother has done bonsai for about 40 years. She really enjoys it, but she had a house fire and lost many of her long time plants which was sad, but some were outside so she was able to save them... Michelle