[Cali]

I bought it last May at a Garden Center here in Corfu. They had only one and said it had come by mistake with a larger shipment and had no idea what it was. It flourished till the end of August, languished till late September, then died. Every single person who saw it asked what it was and I had to blush and say I didn't know....

[Marilyn]

Oh yes! We are very curious I can't wait to find out what it is.... Lovely thing. In the printed photo you had, it looked almost Echium-like, but seeing the photo you have put here, that no longer seems right...

[Marilyn]

There is something I have found online called Celosia spicata or C. argentea var. spicata, whose flowers are not far from this... but the leaves are much narrower.

[Cali]

Hi Marilyn--
I checked the online photos and they don't really match my plant. The stalks and inflorescences are much more attenuated and the burgundy colour of the leaves and stalks are totally wrong, as is the shape and texture (waxy on mine) of the leaves. Also the flowering time doesn't match--they mention mid summer to early autumn whereas mine was in full flower in May and gone by early autumn. Too bad!

[Marilyn]

Yes that was my conclusion too, but I hoped it might give someone an idea... Oh well, I am sure it won't be long before Oron appears to enlighten us all!

[oron peri]

Cali and Marilyn

The plant is Ptilotus exaltatus[ or Trichinium exaltatum, name is still unsolved] and the cultivar name is 'Joey'.
An annual native to Australia
Family: Amaranthaceae.

Cheers from Cyprus

[Cali]

Thank you, Oron!

[anita]

Cali,
Ptilotus are fairly easy to grow from seed. In their native habit they grow after autumn rains and then die off before the onslaught of summer. if you haven't assigned your spent plant to the compost heap, collect the seed and scatter it about.. autumn rains should reward you with germination. I'll take Oron's word on the cultivar name but it doesn't look significantly different from the wild plants to me, so your seedlings should be somewhat similar. Cheers Anita

[Cali]

Thanks, Anita. The Ptilotus did a lot of scattering by itself before it died so I'm looking forward to seeing offspring.