Waterstem Flower

This huge flower grows up to 9.9 feet (3.0 meters) tall. Its emerald stem is thick and splits into 8 branching stems three quarters of the way up, and the giant, pink-red leaves are cylindrical with irregular edges. The leaves alternate on the stem from about halfway up, up to the flower head.

Each stem splits 5 to 8 times; a single small flower grows at the end of each split. The flowers are 61 cm (24.0 inches) wide, with petals that are lilac at the sides and silver at the center. The flower head is shaped like a dish made up of 20 raised, round-tipped petals. They are sturdy.

It has an intensely strong scent that smells like pepper, and it has lots of pollen; it does not cause many allergic reactions. It is pollinated by the wind.