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Pink Needlefern

Shrub type: Deciduous (Stores water in its stem)

This modest-sized shrub grows up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and lives for around 54 years. It is somewhat resistant to disease and destructive insect infestation.

It has many very thick, crooked stems covered in paper-thin, waxy, dark green bark, and the wood inside is yellow.

The branches trail down towards the ground with hundreds of twigs that and are covered with handfuls of small, pleated, leaves with tattered edges. The leaves themselves are ashy orange and hazel, frail and waxy.

It produces dozens of large, pink flowers with needle-like petals with a tube-like floral cup. They are hardy and have a strong scent that smells like something putrid. In mid-autumn it forms medium-sizedbeige, spiky-shelled seeds.

The sap causes severe allergic reactions.
It is possible to grow it from cuttings.
It is suitable for creating tough, hard-wearing textiles