Understory shade or partial sun. Evergreen, with glossy compound leaves that perfume the garden with the fragrance of rue. Torchwood is dense and hedge-like, making a rounded shrub resembling boxwood. Tiny black fruit appears in autumn.
Torchwood is a tough plant in clay or sand, but rare in the commercial trade; look for it at native plant vendors in central Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. It is relatively untested in rocky soils north of San Antonio, though it withstood icy 9-degree temperatures without serious damage in 2021.
In sun, torchwood forms a dense rounded shrub that needs little care or shaping, and once established it needs no supplemental water either. It is fairly slow growing.
