Variegated Tapioca - Not What You think It Is!

This tropical member of the family Euphorbiaceae can grow to be a large shrub or small tree in the tropics, but is useful in Texas as a festive summer annual or patio plant. One gallon plants can easily grow to be handsome 4 feet to 6 feet rounded mounds in a single growing season so young plants should be spaced 4 to 6 feet apart. Plants are initially upright growers becoming wider as the season progresses. The rubbery textured bold leaves can reach up to 8 inches long and are lobed. New growth is a handsome reddish pink and the lobes mature to sport white, creamy white, to yellow-green variegated splotches that follow the main veins.

You don't have to worry about variegated tapioca "going out of bloom". Instead, the plants offer foliage as colorful as most flowers with the added advantage of providing a show all summer. Note the scientific name of this selection is 'Variegata' because of its variegated leaves. The common Tapioca which is native to South America (Brazil and Paraguay) has green leaves. Often this variegated form will have a green sprout or shoot appear. Any green shoots or foliage should be removed immediately or it will become dominant over the variegated foliage. The normal, green form of this plant will also grow much faster and larger than the variegated form. The 'Variegata' screams "fiesta" in the summer landscape and it is one of the few variegated plants on which the foliage will not be damaged by intense, direct summer sunlight. Plants work great as centerpieces where taller plants are needed in the center of circular plantings or as backgrounds for lower growing annual bedding plants. Perhaps the premier use of this variegated plant is as a patio or dooryard container specimen where it thrives despite the reflected heat from concrete or pavement