Thursday, 1 December 2016

FFF262 - BLUE BUTTERFLY BUSH

Rotheca is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 35 to as many as 60. Three of the species are native to tropical Asia, with the rest occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. The type species for the genus is Rotheca serrata. It had originally been named Rotheca ternifolia, but this name is now considered illegitimate.

Rotheca myricoides (blue butterfly bush) is native to tropical East Africa and is cultivated as an ornamental throughout the tropics. Rotheca serrata is from tropical Asia and has some medicinal use there. In the 20th century, Rotheca was rarely recognised as separate from Clerodendrum. Rotheca was revived in 1998 as a result of phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences. It can easily be distinguished from Clerodendrum by a combination of morphological characters.

Rotheca myricoides (also known by its older name Clerodendrum ugadense) is more commonly referred to as the blue butterfly bush. It is called this because of the shape of its flowers. In the early summer, it produces beautiful light blue and lavender flowers that bloom into a shape that resembles a butterfly. It is an evergreen shrub that gets up to 3 metres tall and just as wide. It is native to Kenya and Uganda in East Africa. It enjoys partial shade and requires regular watering.

Join me for Floral Friday Fotos by linking your flower photos below, and please leave a comment once you have done so!
****If you take part in the meme, please show an active link back to this site on your own blog post!****


12 comments:

  1. dear nick, every week you surprise me with an unknown beauty from the other side of the globe. This tree is one of my favorites! Love the shape and colour. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Groetjes Hetty'

    ReplyDelete
  2. https://letthecagedbirdssing.blogspot.com/2016/12/short-story-slam-week-57-sweet-thoughts.html

    wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Nick,

    they look like butterflies...
    How lovely!

    Happy weekend to you!
    Julia

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful and whimsical flower! As well as the color. Thank you for hosting!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The colour is beautiful.
    Have a nice weekend/Marika

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a lovely little flower. One I have not seen before. Too cold for it here I suspect.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! Very interesting, exotic and cool flowers... love the blue color of the blossom

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nick, Wow! Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very pretty! I haven't ever seen that type of butterfly bush before. The Buddleja I posted today is obscured by an actual butterfly. ;D

    ReplyDelete
  10. So nice! I like this color and I've never seen this flower before.
    Have a great weekend, dear Nick!
    Greetings from germany ... Frauke

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's always a pleasure to see here the fantastic plants and blooms. This Blue Butterfly Bush never seen before, it's a lovely color and a wonderful blossom.
    Thank you again for hosting!

    ReplyDelete
  12. very beautiful flower both shape and color :)

    ReplyDelete