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.
| Cuphea oreophila | |
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| A Cuphea oreophila bush | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Lythraceae |
| Genus: | Cuphea |
| Species: | C. oreophila
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| Binomial name | |
| Cuphea oreophila Brandegee ex Bacig.
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Description edit
Cuphea oreophila has strongly veined lime-green leaves 50–75 millimetres (2–3 in) long and 25–40 mm (1–1+1⁄2 in) wide and narrow bright red trumpet-shaped flowers 40 or 50 mm (1+1⁄2 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 edit
- ^ a b c d Martin Grantham, "Cupheas at Strybing Arboretum", Pacific Horticulture, October 2002.
- ^ a b Cuphea orophila, Annie's Annuals and Perennials, retrieved 2019-01-01.
- ^ 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.
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