Zebrina Flower Facts

Musa Acuminata “Zebrina”

• Musa acuminata “Zebrina,” also known as M. zebrina, is a dwarf banana plant with blotchy stripes on its foliage. They are grown outdoors in hot climates and as houseplants in cold climates. The plants do not bloom until they are two to three years old. Mature M. zebrina produce huge, creamy white to yellow flowers from the top of the plant. The flowers are surrounded by red or purple bracts. Female flowers open before male flowers and produce bananas. The banana plant stem dies after flowering, but new stems grow from the rhizomes to replace them. They can bloom any time of the year in hot climates, but generally bloom in the summer in cooler climates.

Tradescantia Zebrina

• Tradescantia zebrina is commonly known as "wandering Jew" or "inch plant." This zebrina plant has striped foliage. It is often grown as a houseplant or as a ground cover plant in warm-climate shady landscapes. It rarely produces flowers when kept as a houseplant. When grown as a ground cover, it will bloom off and on throughout the year. The flowers can be white, purple-blue or lavender. They are only 1/4- to 1/2-inch in diameter. There are three tiny petals on each flower and distinct yellow anthers at the center. T. zebrina flowers do not ordinarily produce seeds. New plants are most often propagated by taking stem cuttings.

Huernia Zebrina

• Huernia zebrina is a succulent plant with a spiny stem that grows to about 4 inches tall and blooms throughout the summer and fall. The flowers produced by this plant are shaped like a starfish with a raised circular area at the center. They are 1-1/2 inches in diameter, smooth and shiny. The flower is creamy white or pale yellow with reddish-brown solid or broken lines across the petals. The raised center of the flower is heavily striped with either the same reddish-brown or solid reddish brown. The dark circular center gave rise to the name "lifesaver plant." The fragrance of Huernia zebrina resembles carrion, which lures flies into the flower to facilitate pollination.

Malva Sylvestris “Zebrina”

• Malva sylvestris “Zebrina” is also known as zebra mallow and mallow-hollyhock. This plant produces 2-inch diameter flowers all summer and well into the fall. The cupped flowers have five petals with a shallow indentation at the center of their outer edge. The flowers are pale pink or purple with dark pink, burgundy or purple centers. The center color extends outward on the flower petals in fine, delicate lines. These are not fragrant flowers, but they do produce seeds and will re-seed themselves freely. Butterflies are attracted to the flowers.