Dischidia vidalii (kangaroo pocket, "Fukurokazura")

Japanese name: フクロカズラ （袋葛）
Scientific name: Dischidia vidalii

[Overview]
A climbing evergreen perennial.
The stems are green and thick, root at the nodes, and grow attached to rocks or trees as an epiphyte.
Leaves are simple and opposite, small, ovate and fleshy.
The leaf margins are entire.
The leaves have short petioles.
It forms water-storing sacs, which are modified leaves.
The water-storing sacs are about 5 cm long and 4 cm wide; they are hollow inside, and roots that absorb water and nutrients grow from them.
In its native habitat, ants nest in the hollows of these sacs, so it is called an ant plant.
Umbels arise from the leaf axils, and it flowers all year round if the temperature is sufficient.
The flowers are tubular and crimson, and the tip of the corolla is 5-lobed.
The fruit is a follicle.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings or layering.
It is not cold-hardy, and it is safest to keep it at 10°C or above for overwintering.
Plant it in sphagnum moss alone or in well-drained soil.
It may also be attached to a tree fern board or similar.
From autumn to spring, place it in a sunny spot; in summer, place it in partial shade, as the leaves are damaged by direct sunlight.
Take care not to overwater: from spring to autumn, water thoroughly after the planting medium has dried, and keep it on the dry side in winter.
It prefers high air humidity, so place it where it is not exposed to air from heating or cooling, and mist the leaves.
Apply fertilizer sparingly, either liquid fertilizer once every 3 months or diluted liquid fertilizer once a month.
Scale insects are a pest.

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