The Bridal Veil (Clerodendrum wallichii) is a climbing shrub or small tree, with a semi-woody texture, native to the tropical regions of Southeast Asia and cultivated for its foliage and ornamental flowering. It features arched branches, with long, sparsely branched stems. The leaves are dark green, glossy, lanceolate, entire, opposite, with well-defined veins and irregularly serrated margins.
The inflorescences appear in autumn and are of the panicle type, terminal, long, loose, and hanging. The flowers are delicately fragrant, hermaphroditic, white, pentamerous, with long, upward-curving stamens, and a slightly greenish calyx. The subsequent fruits are globular drupes, blackish-blue when mature, and protected by the persistent calyx, which turns reddish.
With delicate cascading bouquets, the Bridal Veil has a relatively short blooming period, but does not disappoint. Slow-growing and low-maintenance, it can be trained through pruning and tying to become a small tree or even a climbing vine. One of the major advantages of this species is that it blooms satisfactorily in shady conditions, which is quite uncommon for shrubs.
Thus, it is a choice plant to adorn well-lit indoor environments, as well as corridors and other somewhat dark areas of the garden. Conveniently, it can be grown in pots and planters. As if that were not enough, it also attracts a multitude of butterflies and bees during flowering. Unlike many species of the Clerodendrum genus, the Bridal Veil does not produce many root shoots, thus having a low invasive potential.
It should be grown in full sun, partial shade, or light shade, in fertile, well-drained soil, with a neutral to slightly acidic pH, enriched with organic matter, and watered regularly. The Bridal Veil appreciates the warmth and humidity of the tropics, however, it resists light frosts and under intense cold, loses its foliage, regrowing in the following spring. It propagates by seeds and cuttings of the branches rooted in a substrate kept moist.
