Habitat and Ecology
Agapetes housseana is native to the eastern Himalayas and Southeast Asia, recorded from northeastern India (Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh), Bhutan, and northern Myanmar. It typically inhabits montane forests and shrubby slopes between 1,200–2,200 m elevation, often as an epiphyte on mossy tree trunks or occasionally rooted in humus-rich soil on shaded banks. The environment is consistently moist, cool, and humid, with filtered light under forest canopies.
Description
Agapetes housseana is an evergreen shrub or scandent epiphyte with slender, arching branches. Leaves are elliptic to narrowly ovate, leathery, and glossy green, measuring 3–6 cm long with entire margins. Flowers are borne singly or in small clusters along older stems. The corolla is tubular to narrowly campanulate, typically 2–3 cm long, with a bright red to crimson tube and greenish or yellow-tinged lobes, often ornamented with darker striations. The flowers are pendant and highly attractive to nectar-feeding insects and birds. Fruits are small berries that mature purple-black.
Cultivation
Agapetes housseana prefers bright, filtered light similar to an understory environment. It requires an open, free-draining but moisture-retentive substrate, such as a mix of fine bark, peat, and perlite, with a slightly acidic pH around 5.0–6.0. Watering should keep the medium evenly moist but never waterlogged. Humidity should be maintained at 70–90%, with good air circulation to avoid fungal problems. Optimum growth occurs at daytime temperatures of 20–26 °C and nighttime 14–18 °C. It benefits from regular but dilute fertilisation during the growing season. Best grown in pots, hanging baskets, or mounted on tree fern in a humid greenhouse, where its pendent flowering habit can be displayed.
Specifications
Plant Size: Small propagations about 15-25 cm tall and from our stock plant.
Plant Family: Ericaceae
Plant Passport: A Agapetes housseana B 140084 C 13946 D GB