Pachystachys lutea

Pachystachys lutea, known by the common names lollipop plant and golden shrimp plant, is a subtropical, soft-stemmed evergreen shrub between 36 and 48 inches (90 and 120 cm) tall. The zygomorphic, long-throated, short-lived white flowers emerge sequentially from overlapping bright yellow bracts on racemes that are produced throughout the warm months. It is a popular landscape plant in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.[1]

Pachystachys lutea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Pachystachys
Species:
P. lutea
Binomial name
Pachystachys lutea

It grows in almost any well-drained soil but, like most ornamentals, prefers a soil with an acid reaction. In this preferred medium they attain their maximum in leaf size and colouring.

The Latin specific epithet lutea means “yellow”.[2]

The plant is popular with hummingbirds.

It is cultivated as an ornamental, but in cold temperate regions it requires protection from temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F). It has won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.[3][4]

  • Close up of the bracts
  • Flowers emerging from the bract

References
  1. http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/PACLUTA.PDF
  2. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 184533731X.
  3. "RHS Plantfinder - Pachysandra lutea". Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  4. "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 71. Retrieved 14 April 2018.


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