Medusa Head Air Plant

A member of the euphorbiaceae family the medusa head is a native plant of south africa.

Medusa head air plant.

Be sure the plant isn t crowded as good air circulation can prevent powdery mildew. Watch for mealybugs and spider mites. The medusa plant is a cactus or succulent that is more commonly known by the name medusa head euphorbia flanaganii. The air plant resembles the twisting and chaotic shape of that hair and is an appropriate name.

Allow the end to callous over for a day or two before planting in well draining soil. They have fine but strong hair like roots that grow for the purpose of anchoring the plant to it s mount not for transmission of. Fertilize the plant monthly during spring and summer using a water soluble fertilizer mixed to half strength. Otherwise caring for medusa s head isn t complicated.

While misting the medusa s head plant you can add a weak diluted fertilizer from spring summer twice a month. However it has adapted to dryer regions of the united states and grows quite well in southern california. The seed heads are similar in appearance to foxtail barley hordeum jubatum and bottlebrush squirreltail elymus elymoides but. The growth starts as a swelling at the end of an arm and rapidly grows its own caudex and arms.

On brighter subjects medusa s head makes an exceptional container plant and it can also be put into gardens so long as it is protected from freezes. Because the caput is an air plant it likes quite humid conditions. Each stem produces a single short 15 50mm long bristly spike type seed head. Quick clip to show you how to propagate medusa s head.

Medusa head plant can be propagated from cuttings so this could be a great time to take a cutting you ll want to make sure and use a sterile knife or sharp scissors and select a healthy looking stem to cut. For this purpose put the tillandsia with an overripe apple into a transparent plastic bag and close it tightly. Don t forget to mist it with a water bottle periodically until roots form. One or more stems arise from the base of the plant and can be as long as 0 6m but are more commonly 0 2 0 33m in length.

It is sometimes commonly referred to as just medusa s head or octopus plant. It is also known as octopus plant and medusa s head. Once it reaches a certain size a mother plant will produce pups on the ends of older arms. Tillandsia medusae are easily cared for in just about any environment.

In their natural habitat t caput medusae are found growing from central america to mexico.