Candy Corn Plant (Moullava spicata)

Candy Corn Plant (Moullava spicata syn. Wagatea spicata, Caesalpinia spicata) is a large, robust climber, growing to 5-20 m long. The branches as armed with recurved prickles. The leaves are 20-30 cm long, double pinnate. Each leaf has 5-7 pairs of leaflets, each 3-5 cm long. Strikingly colourful flowers occur in dense spikes 30-60 cm long, at the end of branches. The sepals are scarlet and the petals are yellow.

The flowers are about 1 cm long, and do not open fully. It has 10 stamens and the pods are 4-7 cm long, oblong and hard.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Genus: Moullava
Species : Moullava spicata

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Moullava (mowl-LA-vah)- Named for Moullava Adanson.
• spicata (spi-KAH-tuh) - Grows ears (like corn), in spikes

Common Names:

• Candy Corn Plant, Flaming Spike Climber, False Thorn, Rat Bean (English)
• Wagati, Wakeri, Wakeri che bhaat (Marathi)
• Okkadikkodi, Pulinakkagondai (Tamil)
• Gajjigaballi (Kannada)

Links:

• Flowers of India - Candy Corn Plant
• Zipcodezoo - Candy Corn Plant

Image Courtesy of Dinesh Valke.

Siberian Lily (Ixiolirion tataricum)

Siberian Lily (Ixiolirion tataricum syn. Ixiolirion pallasii, Amaryllis tatarica) is a plant from the Ixioliriaceae family. It is a bulb with an extremely large range. It occurs from Central Asia to Israel and Egypt. The flowers of Siberian Lily resemble those of hyacinth except that the spike is open and the stems rather spindly. Flowering the end of May and early June, slender plants growing to about 12″ tall put on a fine display of royal blue trumpets, reminscent of Triteleia.

The plant requires a very well-drained soil and a sunny growing area. Propagate by removing the offsets from mature bulbs. These can take up to four years to attain blooming size.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Liliopsida
Order : Asparagales
Family : Ixioliriaceae
Genus : Ixiolirion
Species : Ixiolirion tataricum

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Ixiolirion (ik-see-oh-LEER-ee-on) - From the Greek Ixia (bird-lime) and leirion (lily); referring to the plant’s resemblance to Ixia.
• tataricum (tat-TAR-ee-kum) - Of or from the Tatar Mountains Russia.

Common Names:

• Siberian Lily, Lily-of-the-Altai, Lavender Mountain Lily, Sky Blue Mountain Lily, Tartar Lily

Links:

• ZipcodeZoo - Siberian Lily
• Gardening.eu - Siberian Lily

Harlequin Glory Bower (Clerodendrum trichotomum)

Harlequin Glory Bower (Clerodendrum trichotomum) is a coarse, sometimes unkempt, deciduous shrub or small tree that grows 10-20’ tall, native to China and Japan. As an ornamental, this shrub is perhaps best noted for its late summer flowers, showy fruit and malodorous foliage. Tubular, fragrant, white flowers in long-peduncled cymes bloom in the upper leaf axils from late summer into fall.

Flowers are followed by small bright blue fruits, each subtended by a fleshy red calyx. Opposite, toothed to entire, ovate, dark green leaves produce no fall colour. When bruised, the leaves do produce a unique aroma reminiscent of peanut butter as memorialised by the sometimes used common name of peanut butter tree for this plant.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Lamiales
Family : Verbenaceae
Genus : Clerodendrum
Species : Clerodendrum trichotomum

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Verbenaceae (ver-be-NAY-see-ay) - The Verbena (vervain) family.
• Clerodendrum (kler-oh-DEN-drum) - Chance (or luck) tree.
• trichotomum (try-KOH-toh-mum) - Branching into three.

Common Names:

• Harlequin Glory Bower, Peanut Butter Shrub, Japanese Clerodendrum, Fate Tree

Links:

• Flowers of India - Harlequin Glory Bower
• Plants for a future - Harlequin Glory Bower
• Missouri Botanical Garden : Plant Finder - Harlequin Glory Bower

Images Courtesy of Lisa and Alan.

Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet)

Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) is a tall and dramatic landscape or container plant, native to India. The leaves are about 2 ft long and 6 in across and strikingly variegated with irregular stripes of green and yellow in some varieties. The habit is upright and does not require staking as do some other members of the ginger family. The flowers are white, tipped in pink, and borne in long pendant arches.

In some varieties, there is no pink in the tip. The individual flowers are reminiscent of small seashells, which accounts for the common name “shell ginger”. Typically, shell ginger grows to about 6 ft, but it can grow up to 12 ft high.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Liliopsida
Order : Zingiberales
Family : Zingiberaceae
Subfamily : Alpinioideae
Tribe : Alpinieae
Genus : Alpinia
Species : Alpinia zerumbet

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Alpinia (al-PIN-ee-uh) - Named for Prospero Alpino, 16th century Italian botanist.
• zerumbet (ZER-um-bet) - Name derived a Persian word.

Common Names:

• Shell Ginger, Variegated Ginger, Butterfly Ginger, Light Galangal, Pink Porcelain Lily, Shell Flower (English)
• Kanghoo (Manipuri)
• Punnag champa (Bengali)

Links:

• Flowers of India - Shell Ginger
• Floridata - Shell Ginger
• University of Florida : IFAS Extension - Shell Ginger
• Missouri Botanical Garden : Plant Finder - Shell Ginger

Image Courtesy of priklady.

Common Houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum)

Common Houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) is a perennial plant of the genus Sempervivum. It is used as an ornamental plant. House-leek has a fibrous root, with several tufts of oblong, acute, extremely succulent leaves. The stem from the centre of these tufts is about a foot high, erect, round, and downy; flowers large, pale rose-coloured, and scentless. This perennial plant is a native of Europe, and is so succulent that it will grow on dry walls, roofs of houses, etc.

It flowers in August. The leaves contain super-malate of lime. The fresh leaves are useful as a refrigerant when bruised, and applied as a poultice in erysipelatous affections, burns, stings of insects, and other inflammatory conditions of the skin. The leaves, sliced in two, and the inner surface applied to warts is a positive cure for them. It can be used for many skin diseases. The leaves also possess an astringent property.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Saxifragales
Family : Crassulaceae
Genus : Sempervivum
Species : Sempervivum tectorum

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay) - The Crassula family, so named because of the thick leaves.
• Sempervivum (sem-per-VEE-vum) - Always living, living forever.
• tectorum (tek-TOR-um) - Referring to roof.

Common Names:

• Common Houseleek, Hen-and-Chickens, Old Man and Woman, Roof House Leek

Links:

• Plants for a future - Common Houseleek
• Paghat’s Garden - Common Houseleek
• About.com : Landscaping - Common Houseleek

Image Courtesy of Ezequiel Coelho.