Plant Encyclopedia

Description:

Small, freely branching shrub or subshrub with unusual tubular flowers lipped with upward facing petals that look like bat ears and the purple tips resemble the face; great for indoor containers

Features & Attributes

Bat Face Cuphea has panicles of violet tubular flowers with black overtones and curiously fluted crimson tips at the ends of the branches from mid spring to mid fall, which are interesting on close inspection. Its pointy leaves remain green in color throughout the year.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen houseplant with an upright spreading habit of growth. This plant may benefit from an occasional pruning to look its best.

Planting & Growing

When grown indoors, Bat Face Cuphea can be expected to grow to be about 30 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 30 inches. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. This houseplant will do well in a location that gets either direct or indirect sunlight, although it will usually require a more brightly-lit environment than what artificial indoor lighting alone can provide. It does best in average to evenly moist soil, but will not tolerate standing water. The surface of the soil shouldn't be allowed to dry out completely, and so you should expect to water this plant once and possibly even twice each week. Be aware that your particular watering schedule may vary depending on its location in the room, the pot size, plant size and other conditions; if in doubt, ask one of our experts in the store for advice. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soil. Contact the store for specific recommendations on pre-mixed potting soil for this plant.

There are many factors that will affect the ultimate height, spread and overall performance of a plant when grown indoors; among them, the size of the pot it's growing in, the amount of light it receives, watering frequency, the pruning regimen and repotting schedule. Use the information described here as a guideline only; individual performance can and will vary. Please contact the store to speak with one of our experts if you are interested in further details concerning recommendations on pot size, watering, pruning, repotting, etc.

-- THIS IS A HOUSEPLANT AND IS NOT MEANT TO SURVIVE THE WINTER OUTDOORS IN OUR CLIMATE --