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Cuphea oreophila

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cuphea oreophila
A Cuphea oreophila bush
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Lythraceae
Genus: Cuphea
Species:
C. oreophila
Binomial name
Cuphea oreophila

Cuphea oreophila also known as the sacred flower of the Andes is a Lythraceae perennial plant that grows into a small bush. Native to Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas, it was first described by TS Brandegee and Rimo Bacigalupi in 1933.

Description

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Cuphea oreophila has strongly veined lime-green leaves 50–75 millimetres (2–3 in) long and 25–40 mm (1–1+12 in) wide and narrow bright red trumpet-shaped flowers 40 or 50 mm (1+12 or 2 in) long.[1][2] It grows to a maximum height of 3 m (10 ft) in the wild[1] but usually 1.2 m (4 ft) tall and wide in cultivation.[1][2] It has unusually large leaflike appendages.[3]

The species is native to montane forests in Chiapas near its border with Oaxaca, at elevations of between 1,400 and 1,700 m (4,500 and 5,500 ft),[1] and in 1982 was also collected in Guatemala.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Martin Grantham, "Cupheas at Strybing Arboretum", Pacific Horticulture, October 2002.
  2. ^ a b Cuphea orophila, Annie's Annuals and Perennials, retrieved 2019-01-01.
  3. ^ a b Shirley A. Graham, "New Species of Cuphea Section Melvilla (Lythraceae) and an Annotated Key to the Section", Brittonia 42.1 (January–March 1990) 12-32, p. 26.