She likes a drink when her top two inches of soil are dry, but she’s tough and forgives irregular watering.
She’ll be ok in anything from light shade to full sun. Her absolute ideal, if possible, is a lovely bright room.
If you can put her somewhere natural steamy, e.g. a bathroom, or regularly mist her leaves, she’ll thrive.
Botanical name
Clusia rosea
Nickname
Clusia princess; autograph tree; Copey; balsam apple; pitch apple; Scotch attorney
Air purifying
Yes
Plant height (including pot)
20-30cm
Pet/child safe
Mildly toxic if eaten
Nursery pot size
12cm
Left to its own devices, clusia princess, or clusia rosea, can reach heights of 6 metres. In places like the Bahamas, Cuba and Puerto Rico, you’d see it growing happily outside.
Its method of growing in the wild is very unusual and a tiny bit gruesome. It’s a hemiepiphyte, which means it starts its life growing on another tree. As it increases in size, it sends out more and more roots, which gradually wrap around its host and strangle it. Eventually it roots itself in the ground, standing over the corpse of its host tree.
It won’t strangle anybody as an indoor tree. It’s low-key and low-effort. It copes with most conditions, grows quickly and looks simple and sculptural. It will also love you if you give it a feed with liquid fertiliser once a month in spring and summer.
Did you know?
Its nickname is autograph tree because it’s leaves are so thick it’s said you could carve your name in them.
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Fits pots 12.5-15cm
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Fits pots 28-32cm
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Fits pots 12.5-15cm
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Fits pots 15-17cm
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