Firecracker plant
Russelia equisetiformis Schltdl. & Cham.
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 1.1 m
- wide
- 1.5 m
Plantaginaceae
Also called Coral plant, Fountainbush
Formerly Russelia juncea
When it flowers
Flowers June to April in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- PerennialKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Seasonally dry tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- MexicoKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from RHS, NC State Extension and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by all 3 sources
- Height
- 91 cm to 1.2 mRead from RHS, NC State Extension and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by 2 of 3 sources. Sources differ: RHS 1–1.5 m; NC State Extension 2–4 ft; UF/IFAS 3–4 ft
- Spread
- 1.5 m to 1.5 mRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS 1.5–2.5 m; NC State Extension 3–5 ft
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from RHS, NC State Extension and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by all 3 sources
- Flowers
- RedRead from RHS, NC State Extension and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by all 3 sources. Sources differ: RHS red; NC State Extension red; UF/IFAS red, yellow
- Coldest it survives
- -6.7 °C (USDA zone 9a)Read from RHS, NC State Extension and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by 2 of 3 sources. Sources differ: RHS 5 °C; NC State Extension -6.7 °C; UF/IFAS -6.7 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Spanish
- Arete panameño, Bengala
- German
- Russelie
- Portuguese
- Flor-de-coral
- Chinese
- 炮竹紅, 爆仗竹
- Czech
- ruselie přesličkovitá
- Indonesian
- Bunga Air Mancur
- Japanese
- ハナチョウジ
- Chinese (China)
- 爆竹花, 爆仗竹, 吉祥草
- Greek
- Κοράλλι
- French
- Goutte de sang
- Hebrew
- רוסליה שבטבטית
- Russian
- Русселия хвощевидная
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- UF/IFAS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Russelia equisetiformis (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.