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Calliandra californica
Also called Baja Fairy Duster, Zapotillo
Tabardillo (Baja fairy duster) is an evergreen, woody desert shrub from Baja California, Mexico, grown for its fern-like leaves and red puffball flowers. It is very drought tolerant and thrives in full sun.
Calliandra californica, the Baja fairy duster, is an evergreen, woody shrub, native to Baja California, Mexico. In Spanish, the plant is also known vernacularly as tabardillo, zapotillo or chuparosa. The flowers, which appear in early summer, have clusters of red stamens. The shrub is usually 0.6–1.8 metres (2 ft 0 in – 5 ft 11 in) in height and has bipinnate leaves. The leaves have been described as "fern-like." Leaves close at night time.
Calliandra californica is cold tolerant to temperatures of 22 °F (−6 °C), though its roots will tolerate temperatures as low as 5 °F (−15 °C). It grows best in full sun. C. californica is very drought tolerant, needing only 10 inches (250 mm) of water every year. However, additional watering will encourage C. californica to bloom through summer and again in the fall.
Calliandra angustifolia · Fairyduster · Stickpea · Dwarf stickpea · Surinamese stickpea · Pink Powderpuff
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Calliandra californica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
