Japanese name: ロテカ ミリコイデス Scientific name:Rotheca myricoides
[Overview]
An evergreen shrub 1–3 m tall.
The leaves are simple and opposite, elliptic to obovate, about 7.5–10 cm long and 3.5 cm wide.
The leaf margin is entire or has small teeth.
Cymose inflorescences, forming panicles 10–25 cm long, arise at the branch tips.
The flowers are about 2 cm across, and the corolla has 5 lobes; the lower central lobe is large and bluish purple, and the other 4 are pale blue.
The 4 long, curved stamens and 1 pistil extending above the flower are very conspicuous.
The fruit is a drupe.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by stem cuttings or root cuttings.
It prefers sunny, well-drained soil.
It drops its leaves in cold temperatures, but can overwinter outdoors in warm regions without frost, and even if the aboveground part dies back, it will sprout again in spring as long as the roots do not freeze.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless sunny weather continues in summer and the soil becomes dry.
It easily suffers from lack of water in summer, so care is needed.
In spring and autumn, place slow-release fertilizer on the soil.
Aphids can occur.
