Russelia equisetiformis

Image - Wikimedia / David J. Stang

There are plants so decorative that it seems that they have been taken from a story, and there are others that can also be had in the garden or in a pot. One of them is the Russelia equisetiformis, known as a coral plant for the magnificent color of its flowers.

If you want to have a unique species, very rare but easy to care for, this file has been written for you 🙂.

Origin and characteristics

Image - Wikimedia / Eurico Zimbres

Our protagonist is a shrubby plant native to Mexico whose scientific name is Russelia equisetiformis. Popularly it receives the names of coral plant, tears of love, ruselia or coral rain. It reaches a height between 0,50 and 1,50 meters, and has a hanging and highly branched shape.. The leaves of the lower branches are linear-lanceolate, and in the upper part they are reduced to scales. It is semi-perennial, which means that it does not lose all the leaves at once.

The flowers are tubular, coral-red in color, hence its common name. They pollinate themselves thanks to hummingbirds. The fruit is a capsule.

What are their cares?

Image - Flickr / Stefano

If you dare to have a copy of Russelia equisetiformis, we recommend that you provide the following care:

• Location: it must be outside, in full sun.
• Earth:
  • Pot: universal growing substrate mixed with 30% perlite.
  • Garden: grows in rich, well-drained soils.
• Irrigation: 3-4 times a week in summer, and every 4-5 days the rest of the year.
• Subscriber: in spring and summer, once a month with ecological fertilizers.
• Multiplication: by seeds, cuttings or layers in spring.
• Planting or transplanting time: in spring, when the risk of frost has passed and temperatures begin to stay above 15ºC.
• Rusticity: withstands cold and frosts down to -2ºC.

What did you think of this plant? Have you heard of her?