Accession Data

Crossandra nilotica

Common Name: Firecracker Plant

Family: Acanthaceae

Synonym(s): Barleria rhynchocarpa Klotzsch

Country of Origin: tropical east Africa, Mozambique

Description: Seed capsule explosively expel seeds when wetted. Trichomes on wet seed stand on end as a mechanism for retaining as much moisture as possible during germination.

Accession Data

USDA Zone: 10a-11

Accession #: 199900120

Accession Date: 1999-08-16 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🌸 Flowering

Location: 1101

Quantity: 3

Source: Tim Metcalf - UC Davis ex Hortus Botanic

Culture: The best time to harvest Crossandra nilotica fruits is when they have dried on the inflorescence. Ideally let as much of the inflorescence dry as possible. That is, don't pick the fruit at the top of the inflorescence until the lower fruit has mostly, if not completely, turned brown also. If you pick the fruit green it will not pop (dehisce) properly, if at all. Again it is probably better to pick the fruit when the whole inflorescence, including the inflorescence stalk (peduncle?) has dried also. It better to have some fruit pop prematurely while you dry it in a paper bag than to have none pop when it is in someones hand (experience tells us this!). We find that the fruit are easier to handle if the sepals and bracts, which can remain connected to the fruit, have been removed from the base to make for a cleaner demonstration. The best way I have found to do this is to reach down to the base of the mature dry fruit with my thumb and forefinger and slide the bracts etc. off of the fruit. If you pinch the fruit the you run the risk of premature dehiscence. 1

Classification

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Subclass: euasterid I

Order: Lamiales

Family: Acanthaceae

SubFamily: Acanthoideae

Tribe: Acantheae

Flowering Data:

This accession has been observed in bloom on:
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004

References

  1. Email correspondence with Ernesto Sandoval - UC-Davis - 3/20/2000
  2. The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed on Wednesday, September 07, 2016.
  3. Crossandra nilotica at ARS-GRIN. Last accessed on Wednesday, September 07, 2016.

Images

Crossandra nilotica
Crossandra nilotica