Plant in full to part sun where it is fairly drought tolerant but appreciates supplemental water in the spring in dry years and can tolerate wet and clay soils as well as a wide soil pH range. It is hardy to about 20 degrees F and can be successfully planted in seaside gardens, used with other mediterranean climate dry landscape plants, planted in the shallows of a water garden or as a container specimen.

Chondropetalum tectorum 'Red -bract Form' is a male selection made by M. Nevin Smith at the now closed Suncrest Nurseries Watsonville, California. Nevin selected the plant for its bright green stems and vivid red brown bracts from a group of seedlings grown from seed purchased from Ginny Hunt of Seed Hunt, whose original plants were grown from seed supplied by Silverhill Seed in Cape Town, South Africa.

This is one of the true Chondropetalum tectorum cultivars that was first introduced into the California nursery trade in 2008 and noticeably different from the typical Chondropetalum tectorum being grown in the California nursery trade up until that time. The plant widely grown then as Chondropetalum tectorum was reclassified as Chondropetalum elephantinum by Dr. Hans Peter Linder in 2003. It is a much larger plant (to 6 to 8 feet tall) restricted to the Western Cape of South Africa, while true Chondropetalum tectorum is a smaller finer textured plant with a wider distribution throughout the Cape. As seed suppliers in South Africa began to recognize the difference in the two species, seed from both plants became available. We have grown crops of both these species and continue to grow them from seed, but also grow this selected cultivar of Chondropetalum tectorum and also Native Sons Nursery’s very nice more compact Chondropetalum tectorum 'El Campo'.

In another taxonomic twist that confuses this story even more, Peter Linder and Phillip Moline in 2005 included Chondropetalum in the genus Elegia based on DNA evidence, so this plant would now legitimately become Elegia tectorum. We retain the name Chondropetalum tectorum for this plant until such time as this becomes more widely accepted. The name Chondropetalum comes from the Greek words 'chondros' meaning "wheat" or a "big grain of wheat" and 'petalum' meaning a "flower petal". The origin of the name Elegia is from the Latin word ' elegia' which means a "song of lamentation" perhaps in reference to the rustling sound of the culms in the wind. The specific epithet comes from the Latin 'tectorum' meaning "roofing" in reference to the fact that this species has been used to provide thatching material, though it is likely that the plant most used for thatching was really the larger one now called Chondropetalum elephantinum [Elegia elephantina]. For more information on the typical forms of these other plants, see our listing of Chondropetalum elephantinum and Chondropetalum tectorum or our Chondropetalum Page that discusses the early confusion between these two species and their differences. 

The information about Chondropetalum tectorum 'Red-bract Form' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.