The rules for posting are simple!

1. Every Friday post a photo that includes one or more flowers.
2. Please only post photos you have authority to use.
3. Include a link to this blog in your post - http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.com/
4. Leave the link to your FloralFridayFoto post below on inlinkz.
5. Visit other blogs listed ... comment & enjoy!

When to Post:
inlinkz will be available every Thursday and will remain open until the next Wednesday.

Thursday 10 December 2015

FFF212 - CROSSANDRA

Crossandra infundibuliformis (firecracker flower), is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to southern India and Sri Lanka. It is an erect, evergreen subshrub growing to 1 m with glossy, wavy-margined leaves and fan-shaped flowers, which may appear at any time throughout the year. The flowers are unusually shaped with 3 to 5 asymmetrical petals. They grow from four-sided stalked spikes, and have a tube-like 2 cm stalk. Flower colours range from the common orange to salmon-orange or apricot, coral to red, yellow and even turquoise.

This plant requires a minimum temperature of 10 °C, and in temperate regions is cultivated as a houseplant. It is usually grown in containers but can be attractive in beds as well. The flowers have no perfume but stay fresh for several days on the bush. A well-tended specimen will bloom continuously for years. It is propagated by seeds or cuttings. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

In India and Sri Lanka, the tiny flowers are often strung together into strands, sometimes along with white jasmine flowers and therefore in great demand for making garlands which are offered to temple deities or used to adorn women’s hair. The common name "firecracker flower" refers to the seed pods, which are found after the flower has dried up, and tend to "explode" when near high humidity or rainfall. The "explosion" releases the seeds onto the ground, thereby creating new seedlings.


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15 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info you provide every week! Always so interesting:)

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  2. What beautiful flowers. Minimum 10 degrees, guess there's be mo chance of me growing one in my garden here in Tasmania without a glasshouse

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  3. Fascinating post. My sister is in Southern India right now, and may be seeing one of these flowers as I write this!

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  4. Yes we see these grow here on plenty.
    Lovely capture.

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  5. I think I've never seen this flower before. But it looks good!
    Have a nice weekend ... Frauke

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  6. I have not seen this flower before! It is gorgeous!

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  7. A beautiful orange, Nick!
    I hope you had a happy name day also.
    Thank you for your nice comments.
    I'm always pleased. Greetings, Nicole

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  8. Hi!
    A beautiful flower, never seen it before.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Marika

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  9. Great orange coloring. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Your Crossandra infundibuliformis is beautiful Frauke, and a lovely photograph. Thank you for linking with Today's Flowers again. I have also :) Wishing you a very happy weekend :)

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  11. What a lovely little flower! It's new to me and I love it!

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