Glory bush
Tibouchina urvilleana
Also called Tibouchina, Princess flower and Purple glory tree
Houseplant · FloweringThe velvet leaves must never be wetted or they mark permanently — water the compost only. It flowers on new wood, so cut it back by a third in early spring; left alone it becomes a bare stick with flowers you cannot see.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Hard
- Water
- Every 4 daysKeep it moist — water at the first hint of dryness — don't wait for a dry pot.
- Light
- Bright, with some direct sun
- Feed
- Once a fortnight
- Humidity
- Average to high
- Hardiness
- Indoors, or out for the summer RHS H1C, to 5°C
- Size
- 2 m tall · 1.2 m across
- Lifecycle
- Shrub
- Origin
- Brazil
Is it safe for pets and people?
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Neither authority names Tibouchina. That is an absence and not a clean bill.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-09-22. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Permanent pale blotches wherever water has sat on the leaf. The velvet traps it and the mark does not grow out — water the compost only, never the foliage, and never mist it.Marked velvet leaves · disorder
- All the growth and every flower two feet above the pot. It flowers on new wood: cut it back by a third in early spring, hard enough to feel wrong.A bare stick with flowers on top · disorder