Achimenes longiflora

Native from southern Mexico through Central America to Colombia, this herbaceous perennial produces purple or white flowers with a long, slender tube and a broad, five-lobed face. It grows in moist places; in Guatemala, it occurs between about 800 and 8,200 feet. Creeping stems can take root and form colonies. Small, scaly underground rhizomes allow it to survive seasonal dormancy and produce new shoots when growth resumes. Grown as an ornamental, it has escaped cultivation and naturalized in Mizoram, northeastern India, where it is reported as an invasive alien plant. Photographed in Panama.