Native Plant Database

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Biennial
Habit: Herb
Size Class: 3-6 ft.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: Red , Orange , Yellow
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul

Distribution

USA: AL , AR , DE , FL , GA , IL , IN , IA , KS , KY , LA , MD , MA , MI , MS , MO , NJ , NY , NC , OH , OK , SC , TN , TX , VA , WI
Native Distribution: C. TX, e. to KY, NC & FL
Native Habitat: Dry, sandy or rocky fields; open woods. Central and east Texas. Well-drained sand, loam, or limstone.
USDA Native Status: L48(N), CAN(I)

Growing Conditions

Water Use: Medium
Light Requirement: Sun , Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Dry
Soil Description: Dry, sandy or rocky soils. Gravelly, Sandy, Sandy Loam, Medium Loam
Conditions Comments: Standing cypress is stunningly beautiful and easy to cultivate in garden settings. Showy, red, tubular flowers, widely flaring at the rim, are marked with orange or yellowish spots inside. Flowers are arranged in a thick spike, opening from the tip of the stem downward. When the bloom stalk is through blooming, you can prune it off to allow replacement stalk to grow and flower.
Texas comments: Standing cypress is stunningly beautiful and easy to cultivate in garden settings. Showy, red, tubular flowers, widely flaring at the rim, are marked with orange or yellowish spots inside. When the bloom stalk is through blooming, you can prune it off to allow replacement stalk to grow and flower.

Benefit

Use Ornamental: Attractive, Blooms ornamental, Color, Showy
Use Wildlife: Standing cypress attracts hummingbirds. Nectar-Hummingbirds
Conspicuous Flowers: yes
Interesting Foliage: yes
Attracts: Hummingbirds
Nectar Source: yes
Deer Resistant: None

Propagation

Propagation Material: Seeds
Description: I. rubra was the most successful of over twenty individual species field-tested at the National Wildflower Research Center in 1984-85, yielding an average of over 200 seedlings per square meter when seeded at the recommended rate. Propagate by sowing seed in fall. A fall seeding recommended. Be sure the seeds are in good contact with the soil by lightly raking the seed into loose topsoil. Since it is a biennial, it is recommended that you plant two consecutive years in order to produce flowering stalks each year.
Seed Collection: After flowering ceases, allow seeds to completely mature before moving for reseeding or collecting seed to plant in a new area.
Seed Treatment: Not Available
Commercially Avail: yes
Maintenance: The first year of growth will produce a ferny rosette, followed by a flower spike the second year. When the spike has bloomed out, cut it off, and new spikes will be formed.

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From the National Organizations Directory

According to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is on display at the following locations:

Fredericksburg Nature Center - Fredericksburg, TX
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Austin, TX
Texas Discovery Gardens - Dallas, TX

Bibliography

Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest (1991) Miller, G. O.
* Native Texas Plants: Landscaping Region by Region (2002) Wasowski, S. & A. Wasowski
Shinners & Mahler's Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas (1999) Diggs, G. M.; B. L. Lipscomb; B. O'Kennon; W. F...
Texas Wildflowers: A Field Guide (1984) Loughmiller, C. & L. Loughmiller
Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife (1999) Damude, N. & K.C. Bender
* Wildflowers of Texas (2003) Ajilvsgi, Geyata.
* Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country (1989) Enquist, M.

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Recommended Species Lists

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Additional resources

USDA: Find Ipomopsis rubra in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Ipomopsis rubra in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Ipomopsis rubra