Pachystachys coccinea, the Cardinals guard, is a perennial evergreen shrub native to French Guiana, Brazil, and Peru[1] It has ovate to elliptic dark leaves and red flowers on terminal spikes, and can grow to be two to six feet tall, though cultivated plants tend to be shorter.[2]

Pachystachys coccinea
Pachystachys coccinea at the United States Botanic Garden
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Pachystachys
Species:
P. coccinea
Binomial name
Pachystachys coccinea
Synonyms
  • Justicia coccinea
  • Jacobinia coccinea

The genus name Pachystachys is derived from the Greek for thick spike in reference to the flowering spikes. The species name coccinea is derived from the Latin for scarlet in reference to the deep red flowers.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Pachystachys coccinea". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
  2. ^ "Pachystachys coccinea". Gardino Nursery. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
  3. ^ "Pachystachys coccinea". Missouri Botanial Garden. Retrieved 2015-05-13.