Sunday, May 9, 2010

Firebush a.k.a Scarlet bush a.k.a Hamelia patens


Red flower bunches with red stems, whorled leaves, green -> yellow -> red -> black berries
Thats right, it is the showy scarlet bush or fire bush, the second of the 'hedging material' i was introduced to recently.
I learned that it is of the same family as the coffee (rubiaceae). Now i wonder what the flowers of the coffee plant are like? I must remember to observe when i visit the nearby coffee plantations in coorg and chikmaglur.

4 comments:

The Phytophactor said...

A pretty shrub, but biologically you are missing other parts of the set. In it's native neotropics, the flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds, and mites which inhabit the flowers hitch rides on the hummingbirds to travel from plant to plant. Situations like this are common when plants are removed from their native environs. Cannot remember if this sets fruit without pollinator assistance.

Anonymous said...

Coffee has a Eurasian heritage. It is pollinated by insects, and the flowers are white.

A. said...

thanks for the comment! i cant see any fruits yet but i did see lots of bees around the flowers.

radha said...

Is this the Firespike? I do not remember seeing fruits either.