White Bat Plant

An upright leafy plant with grey-green, narrow leaves growing from an underground fleshy root. The flowers are borne in flower heads of up to thirty blooms. These form the bat's face. They range in colour from purple-red to brown. The flowers are topped by white floral leaves called bracts, which resemble bat's ears. Filaments up to 20cm (8") long or more hang from the flowers. The similar black bat plant has black or purple bracts. There is also an Australian native species called T. leontopetaloides.