Alicia

Clusia rosea

Autograph tree; Copey; Balsam apple; Pitch apple; Scotch attorney

• 
  Most light conditions
• 
  Easy care

• Alicia likes...
  • 
    Watering

    She likes to be watered whenever the top two inches of soil are dry, but she’s a tough one and forgives irregular watering.

  • 
    Most light conditions

    She’ll be ok in anything from light shade to full sun. Her absolute ideal, if possible, is a lovely bright room.

  • 
    Humidity

    If you can put her somewhere natural steamy, e.g. a bathroom, or regularly mist her leaves, she’ll thrive.

• Quick facts

  Botanical name

  Clusia rosea

  Nickname

  Autograph tree; Copey; Balsam apple; Pitch apple; Scotch attorney

  Air purifying

  Yes

  Plant height

  140-150cm

  Pet/child safe

  Mildly toxic if eaten

  Nursery pot size

  34cm

• About Clusia rosea

  Left to its own devices, Clusia rosea can reach heights of 6 metres. In places like the Bahamas, Cuba and Puerto Rico, you’d see it growing happily outside.

  Its method of growing is very unusual and a tiny bit gruesome. It’s a hemiepiphyte, which means it starts its life growing on another tree. As it increases in size, it sends out more and more roots, which gradually wrap around its host and strangle it. Eventually it roots itself in the ground, standing over the corpse of its host tree.

  It won’t strangle anybody as an indoor tree. It’s low-key and low-effort. It copes with most conditions, grows quickly and looks simple and sculptural.

  Did you know?

  Its nickname is Autograph tree because its leaves are so thick it’s said you could carve your name in them.