Mousetail Plant, Phyllanthus myrtifolius, may be my favorite plant that you’ve never heard of. Or at least it is right now.
You can see the weeping form and soft texture of the Mousetail Plant. When I think about texture in the garden this is the plant that comes to mind (and foxtail fern, Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myersii’). Its flowers are really without mention, and now that I am writing this, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the flowers.
The photo at left was taken at Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida. This plant has been here for several years and is well over three feet wide and 18-24″ tall. It is evergreen throughout the winter and is being grown in fairly deep shade. There isn’t much information available on this plant and the most useful details I was able to find include, “An ornamental plant from Australia/Southeast Asia. It’s small leaves and fine twigs allow it to be transformed into small-sized bonsai.” Hmm.
I am championing for this plant to become available in the horticulture industry! This small plant is the one I have growing at my house from a cutting off the Leu Gardens plant. It has been in the ground for two months and, remembering that it is winter so things grow more slowly, seems to be doing fine. I am hoping to get more cuttings in the next few weeks and try to have a mass of these. I think the appeal for the Mousetail Plant will be widespread and especially for someone looking to create a clean, almost zen type of garden with a lot of emphasis on texture and shape over color and flowers this will be perfect. And interesting. And different from your neighbor.
Sounds good to me.