Serruria (genus, spiderhead)

Japanese name: セルリア
Scientific name: Serruria

[Overview]
An evergreen shrub.
The leaves are alternate and finely pinnately divided.
The flower heads gather in racemes at the branch tips, or occur singly in the leaf axils.
Many small flowers are borne; the perianth is 4-lobed and hairy.
The involucre surrounding the inflorescence is conspicuous.
The fruit is a nut.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
It can overwinter outdoors in regions without frost.
It prefers poor, sunny, well-drained, well-ventilated soil, and most species prefer acidic soil.
The roots are shallow and prone to drying out, so it does need moisture, but it is resistant to drought and weak against heat and humidity, so water thoroughly after the soil dries.
If given too much fertilizer it dies, and it is especially sensitive to phosphorus.
If fertilizing, give only a small amount of a fertilizer low in phosphorus.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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