Hydnophytum papuanum 'Ant Plant'

Water:

April-September: 1 x every 2 weeks*

October-March: 1x per month *

*This is only for a sunny location

Light: sunny

Nutrition: 1x per month (May-September)

This is a truly remarkable plant. The nickname of this Hydnophytum is "ant plant". It earned this nickname because its tuberous stem contains hollow chambers. In the tropical regions where this plant is found, ants use these chambers as a shelter. The ants patrol through the chambers like guardians, removing foreign leaf-eaters, which the ant plant is naturally very happy about. Additionally, the ants' faeces provide extra nutrients, which are absorbed by the plant.

This plant originally has a unique growth habit; it is an epiphyte, meaning it grows on trees. Epiphytes are organisms that grow on living plants without extracting nutrients from them. In nature, this ant plant grows in mangroves in tropical parts of Asia.

The Hydnophytum papuanum is a slow-growing plant that forms a tuber as a base from which its stem grows. The tuber has a grey-green colour with many small spines. The stem has a fresh green colour. Its leaves grow in opposite pairs on the stem. During the blooming period, small white flowers form on the tuber beneath the leaves, which develop into translucent white, elongated berries.

A: Hydnophtum B: NL-307855554 C: D: NL