Sphyrospermum Haughtii

One of the rarest members of an already obscure genus — Sphyrospermum haughtii was described by the botanist Albert Charles Smith in 1953 from a type collection made above Balzapamba in Ecuador's Bolívar province at 2,400 meters, and according to herbarium records has been collected from the wild only a handful of times since, placing it among the genuinely rare species even by the standards of Andean Ericaceae. The genus Sphyrospermum belongs to the tribe Vaccinieae within the family Ericaceae — the blueberry family — and is distributed from Mexico through tropical South America, with its center of diversity in the cloud forests of Ecuador and Colombia. Like its relatives Ceratostema and Macleania, S. haughtii is an epiphyte, sometimes growing over rock, with the compact, pendant, cloud-forest shrub habit characteristic of the tribe. The leaves are small, ovate, and succulent when fresh — their margins thickened, recurved, and narrowly revolute, with plinerved venation from the base and a slightly hairy surface — drying to thick-coriaceous with the midrib strongly raised on both surfaces. As a member of the Neotropical blueberry family it produces small flowers followed by the berried fruit structure characteristic of the tribe, adapted for hummingbird pollination in its native cloud forest habitat at elevations above 2,000 meters.

As a high-elevation Andean Ericaceae, S. haughtii requires cool to intermediate temperatures with meaningful day-to-night differential — a range of 50-75°F suits it well, and cool nights encourage flowering. Bright indirect light with some gentle morning sun supports healthy growth and bloom production. The genus Sphyrospermum is noted by specialists as among the easiest Neotropical blueberries to cultivate, performing well in small pots or hanging baskets — allow the top 1-2" of medium to dry between waterings as it is susceptible to root rot in persistently wet conditions. Use an acidic epiphytic mix of peat, perlite, and pine bark, and feed monthly with an ericaceous low-pH formula. Humidity of 70%+ supports the best growth. Soft water is preferred to avoid mineral buildup. Not known to be toxic to humans or pets.