CIGAR PLANT
Genus: Cuphea
Common Name: Cigar Flower
Family: Lythraceae
Appearance: Small shrubs with small foliage and small but attractive flowers.
Flowers: Red, white or mauve flowers, usually tubular, over many months.
Features: Good for small hedges and pot specimens.
Requirements: Moist, rich friable soil. Tropical to warm temperate. Grows best in full sun. Does not like salt wind.
Culture: Apply fertiliser every 3 months, prune to maintain shape, keep well watered. Propagate by cuttings or seeds.
Pest & Disease: Scale and sooty mould can be controlled by white oil or heavily pruned to remove damaged plant material. New growth should grow back healthy.
Species & Varieties:
Approx. 250 species, including:
C. hyssopifolia -To 0.6m with small leaves and coloured flowers throughout the year. Dwarf cultivars are available.
C. ignea (Cigar bush) -To 1m with tubular bright orange-red flowers throughout the year. Very fast growing but not long lived.
C. x purpurea -To 0.5m with mauve-violet flowers.
C. micropetala -To 0.5m with tubular red and yellow flowers.