SGAP(Qld) Article - Colourful Foliage Plants

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COLOURFUL FOLIAGE PLANTS

Julie McGregor

Terrigal, NSW.

Most of the really attractive and colourful foliage plants belong to the "rainforest" group. Some of them are too big for containers, though you can grow them for a few years. Then, if you have room, you can transplant them into your garden, or give them to a friend. Quite a lot of them don't grow as large or as fast out of their natural habitat, and often turn into lovely smaller, denser versions in open positions without competition for light and nutrients.

Some which I grow in pots are Syzygium erythrocalyx, S. wilsonii ssp wilsonii, S. wilsonii ssp. cryptophlebium, Lepiderema pulchella, Agapetes meiniana, Acmena normanbyi (syn. Acmena East Normanby River) and Syzygium canicortex. I also have some of these in the ground, as well as Grevillea baileyana, Opisthiolepis heterophylla, Davidsonia pruriens and D. pruriens var. jerseyana, Neolitsea dealbata and probably some others that I'll remember next time I'm down the back yard.

I will be discussing a couple of special favourites: Lepiderema pulchella, Syzygium wilsonii ssp. cryptophlebium and Acmena normanbyi.

Lepiderema pulchella

If I had room for only one plant that can grow into a small tree, this would probably be it. "Pulchella" means beautiful and this plant lives up to its name. We purchased our first one in 1988 and it is currently about 4 metres high. It gets very little care as such, ie. fertilizer, and the brush turkeys remove any mulch that we may put down. It never disappoints, having continuous flushes of new growth all year, especially after rain - we don't do any additional watering in our garden once plants establish.

Jones (1) describes Lepiderema pulchella as a tree to 8 metres, with pinnate leaves to 10cm, with each having 2-4 pairs of fairly narrow leaflets. These leaflets are bright, shiny green on the upper surface and taper towards the end. It has small yellow-orange flowers carried in densely flowered panicles during September-October. Ours hasn't flowered as yet that we know of, maybe it is not warm enough. The species is endemic to the Border Ranges of N.S.W. and Queensland.

Jones writes that this is a beautiful species worthy of wider cultivation. Plants are spindly for the first few years, eventually becoming rounded and densely bushy. The foliage is an attractive, light, shiny green and the flushes of new growth are pinkish-white to lime green and contrast well with the mature foliage. He has a good photo of this on page 156.

Nicholson (2) write that seed germinates quickly and cuttings are slow to strike, but successful, and produce thicker early growth.

Syzygium wilsonii ssp. cryptophlebium

This is also a beautiful shrub, taller than its relative, S. wilsonii ssp. wilsonii, though its requirements are similar.

I have only grown this one in the ground, but I'm sure it would be amenable to pot culture. Our oldest specimen is 9 years old. It has beautiful flushes of hot pink new growth that hang down and stand out like a beacon. The flowers are cream and hang from the branchlets. Purple fruit appear after flowering.

Nicholson (2) notes that peeled seed germinates in 1-3 months, but can be erratic. Cuttings strike fairly easily. They have a nice photo of the plant on page 60, though ours has hot pink new growth, rather than the more reddish tone seen here.

Syzygium wilsonii ssp. cryptophlebium Family Myrtaceae.

Acmena normanbyi
(syn. Acmena sp. East Normanby River)

This lovely plant we've had for 3 years. We purchased it from Bryant's Nursery at Lismore, where we always call in on our way north. Kay recommended it to us and we've never been disappointed. It has beautiful flushes of bright red new growth for long periods that fade to maroon and its usual green.

This one we grow in a 200mm waterwell type pot. I've noticed it uses a reasonable amount of water and depletes its reservoir every 2-3 days. Pruning encourages the new growth. It hasn't flowered as yet. Apparently it has small white flowers.

Radke and Sankowsky (3) have the only description of this plant that I have found, probably because one of them discovered it.

They write that it is a rare plant from a small area in a World Heritage Area near Cooktown. Its scientific classification has proved elusive and, whilst presently called Acmena, it doesn't accurately fit this genus and may be a new one. Due to its limited time in cultivation, there are no mature specimens, though they predict that it will grow to 3-4 metres high. Ours is about 1 metre and very bushy. It will grow in a protected sunny spot or semi-shade.

Acmena normanbyi. Family Myrtaceae.

REFERENCES

1. Jones, D.L. (1986) Rainforest Plants of Australia, Reed Books, Sydney.
2. Nicholson, N. & H. (1988) Australian Rainforest Plants II, Terania Creek Nursery, The Channon, NSW.
3. Radke, P. & A., Sankowsky, G. & N. (1993) Growing Australian Tropical Plants, Frith & Frith Books, Queensland.

(Julie is the retired Leader of the Australian Plants for Containers Study Group. This article has been reprinted from the Study Group Newsletter No.17, March 1997. The colour photos are from the publications listed in the References)