Teloxys aristata Seeds - Seafoam

Teloxys aristata 'Seafoam', also known as Sea Foam or Zeechium, is an annual plant known as a miniature tree. It is particularly used by model makers and architects who use its dried vegetation, coloured or not, to mimic trees. Florists and lovers of floral compositions also use it for the architectural design of its cloudy foliage, green to reddish foliage. Expensive to buy, sea foam is nevertheless easy to sow and cultivate. No reason to go wothout!

Teloxys aristata 'Seafoam' (recently renamed Dysphania aristata) is an annual plant of the Chenopodiaceae family. The wild species is native to temperate Asia and has naturalised elsewhere, particularly in the northern United States and southern Europe. In nature, it grows in fallow land and among crops, up to 500 m altitude. 'Seafoam' seems to be a more colourful selection than the species.

Dysphania aristata 'Seafoam' is a plant that germinates in spring, develops its vegetation throughout the summer, blooms in August-September, bears seeds, and then dies in winter. It is a hairy plant with an irregular habit that measures 25 cm tall by 30-35 cm wide. Its stems are intensely branched, bearing small lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong leaves measuring 2.8 to 3.4 cm long by 0.1 to 0.3 cm wide. The entire vegetation (stems and leaves) of this Teloxis changes from spring green to summer bronze green, ending in shades of pink and red. The plant blooms in late summer. It has tiny flowers with 5 sepals, 2-3 mm in diameter, grouped in axillary spikes or terminal clusters. After pollination, round achenes form. It is possible to collect them to sow the following spring.

Very easy to grow, Teloxys aristata 'Seafoam' is sown outdoors in April-May, in open ground or in pots. One can also enhance summer flower beds with this curious moss-like plant. The young plants resemble "weeds", then they form a kind of more or less reddish cloud resembling a very airy moss. The plants are harvested from August by cutting them at the base. This plant can be used fresh or dried, natural or dyed.