Cyperus papyrus (Paper Reed)

Sub-tropical aquatic plants from the Nile delta and central parts of Africa, anywhere where it’s wet wet wet. The instantly recognizable silhouette of reedlike stems with fluffy mop-tops whooshes up to 10 feet or so in the wild, and you can expect an enthusiastic one in cultivation to get to about six feet in a season.

It definitely needs full sun, as in lower light the stems will flop and be a nuisance to the eye, ruining the lines of that columnar form. Fertilise heavily to sustain all that lush strong growth and by removing any old, dead, yellow or floppy canes you will keep it looking pin sharp and refined. Like something painted on the walls of a throne chamber. It makes a tremendous conservatory plant year-round since being a sub-tropical plant it needs to stay above 5°c. Impossible to overwater, papyrus can be also plunged into a pond in summer to add a flourish of the tropics, and can be lifted somewhere frost free for Winter.

Cultivation is simplicity itself: put it in a big container and put the container in a tray and make sure there's always water in the tray so that it thinks it’s in the Nile. The bigger the pot, the taller it gets - possibly to 10 ft in a monster pot but usually 5 or 6ft. It’s definitely one of the easiest and most stylish plants for indoors that we grow; impossible to see them without thinking of Pharaohs and pyramids and all that. But you don’t need to be Amenhotep III to enjoy them, just a nice big pot somewhere sunny and keep the hippos off ‘em.