On 15/10/06 12:26, in article , "Jax"
wrote:

I have looked at different sites on the internet but could see anything this
this plant

I saw a plant in a local shop that used to sell many plants but now the
concentrate on selling cut flowers making boquetes and green groceries etc.
So no one serving in the shop could tell me what it was.

Its a short plant, just over a foot tall. It has dark brown bottle brush
like " spikes/flowers". The more mature fronds also seem to have pale brown
seeds on the outside of the "bottle brushes". The less mature emerging baby
bottle brushes are soft and slilky and very dark brown. As they mature they
fatten up and become slightly more spikey. The leaves are long and quite
broad and are green with a slight purply tinge. From a distance the plant
looks like a small short bullrush but the "bottle brushes" are much more
open textured and spikey compared to the dense head of a bullrush. I have
never seen a plant like this ever before. The shop couldnt tell me any more
about the planting or care. I paid £5 for the plant in case that helps.

Try looking at Google images of Penniseum setaceum rubrum and Pennisetum
glaucum. We have these outside in pots and they're tall but sound somewhat
similar to what you're describing. It might be those when young or some
kind of relative in the millet family. The two we have are not hardy.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/