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Phormium ‘Dazzler’

06 Oct 2005

General information

Cultivar name:

Phormium ‘Dazzler’ (Syn. ‘Red Stripe’)

Originator:

Introduced by Mr. R. Jordon, Australasian Nurseries, Pakuranga, New Zealand.

Publication:

Royal Horticultural Society Yearbook, Lilies and other Liliaceae, 85, 1973. (See description below.)

Parentage:

 

Leaf colour

Colour group:

Red variegated

Upper surface:

Stripes of carmine red and bronze-brown.
Dazzler - upper surface

Lower surface:

Dark greyish-green with feint red stripes. Midrib is dark brown and margins are narrowly edged with red-brown.
Dazzler - lower surface

Comments:

A very striking cultivar with an overall appearance of redish-purple.

 

Growth form

Shape group:

Arching

Leaf length:

<  cm

Leaf width:

< 5 cm

Comments

 

Flowers and fruit

Flowers:

 

Pictures (Click to enlarge)

 

 

Published descriptions

HEE

Described as having leaves that are "bronze with bright red stripes".

SMG

A slightly arching 3 feet tall plant with 1 1/2" wide leaves that are striped with deep maroon and scarlet. Old leaves will fade and lose striping but the new leaves always retain the vivid color that gives this plant its name. The reddest of the Flax and one of the smallest of the brightly colored hybrids. Stable.

The beauty of this plant is only matched by the difficulty it has shown to be propagated in sufficient quantities. Several years ago this prompted Monrovia Nursery Company in Azusa, California to attempt to propagate Phormium 'Dazzler' by tissue culture. In the process the red variegation was lost and the the subsequent plants (w/o red striping) were given the name Phormium tenax 'Atropurpureum Compacta'. This name has been determined to be invalid because of the use of a latinized varietal name and because the original plant was not a P. tenax cultivar. In honor of the nursery that created this cultivar San Marcos Growers calls this plant Phormium 'Monrovia Red'.

HOR

‘Dazzler’, the knockout of the group, (red cultivars) has deep maroon leaves, striped throughout with rich scarlet. Its slightly arching leaves reach about three feet in height.

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