Cardinal's guard (Pachystachys coccinea)

Lollipop merah or Cardinal's guard (Pachystachys coccinea) is a species of plant in Acanthaceae, a perennial shrub, up to 2 meters tall, dark green leaves ovate to elliptical and red flowers on terminal spikes, growing wild under the shady canopy of primary and secondary forests.

P. coccinea has stems upright, straight, branching symmetrically and dark green. The leaves have a dark green stalk and appear in pairs at a point of the stem and arranged against each other.

Single leaf oval, wavy surface, rounded base, pointed or rounded tip and crisp like paper. A large, bright green bone in the center with several pinnate veins and a shiny surface.

Each stem has a flower and appears in large dark green terminal clusters with long dark green stalks. Bright red flowers that form circular tendrils with thick yellow threads and do not fall off easily.

Cardinal's guard grows in colonies in the shade under the canopy of primary and secondary forest, plantation lands and abandoned places on loam and sandy soils with medium temperature.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Pachystachys
Species: Pachystachys coccinea

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