Lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus pulcher)

Lipstick plant or red bugle vine (Aeschynanthus pulcher) is a species of plant in the Gesneriaceae, an evergreen annual herb, an epiphytic climber, producing clusters of red flowers, growing up to 2 meters long, cylindrical stems, hairy and forming flying roots.

A. pulcher has leaves arranged in pairs with stalks up to 0.5 cm long. The leaves are hairy, have a vein in the middle, rounded base, sharp tip, dark green upper side and whitish green lower side. The flowers grow in the leaf axils, are elongated funnel-shaped, slightly curved and red in color.

This species grows in the lowlands up to an elevation of 2000 meters, requires bright light but not direct sunlight, and thrives in damp conditions.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Gesneriaceae
Subfamily: Didymocarpoideae
Tribe: Trichosporeae
Subtribe: Didymocarpinae
Genus: Aeschynanthus
Species: Aeschynanthus pulcher

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