Fascicularia bicolor

Fascicularia is a genus of flowering plants in the pineapple family Bromeliaceae. Only one species is known, the Fascicularia bicolor. It is endemic to Chile, but reportedly naturalized in France and in the extreme south and west of Great Britain. In the wild, Fascicularias are saxicolous, meaning they live on or between rocks, or epiphytes, meaning they live on the surface of other plants, taking their moisture and nutrients from the air and the rain. Though the Fascicularia is definitely not a grass, we have included it in our category 'Grasses', because, visually, it is often mistaken for one. Fascicularia bicolour is a rosette-forming, rigid, mid to dark-green, evergreen with finely-toothed leaves up to 50cm long. In summer each mature rosette produces a dense central cluster of pale sky-blue flowers surrounded by ivory-white bracts. At this time, the innermost leaves of the rosette turn scarlet red. Though rated only at hardiness H3 (safe down to +1ºC) by the RHS, the particular specimen that we have in stock (only one!) has happily survived the last two winters in the open, here in Millhouses, during the time we've been closed for business. Some sources, in fact, quote the hardiness as H4 (good to -5ºC). This specimen, whilst very substantial in size, has not yet reached the stage where it produces the rosettes or flowers.