A cluster of tubular red Cavendishia bracteata flowers with pale pink, star-shaped openings

Cavendishia bracteata

Native from southern Mexico to Bolivia, this evergreen shrub in the heath family grows in soil or on trees. It usually reaches about 3 to 13 feet tall. In Colombia, it is recorded between about 3,300 and 12,500 feet. Its prominently veined leaves accompany clusters of tubular flowers surrounded by pink to deep red bracts. Flower colors vary from pale pink and white to red, often with yellow-green tips. Hummingbirds pollinate the nectar-bearing flowers. The berries measure about one-third to half an inch across and have a pleasant anise-like flavor when ripe. In Colombia, the plant is used for food, ornament, fuelwood, and wooden supports. Photographed in Colombia.

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Cream-colored Cavendishia flowers hang beneath glossy green leaves, with faint pink markings near their bases

Cavendishia bracteata bears elongated red flowers with yellow-green tips beneath small pink bracts

Two Cavendishia bracteata clusters have glossy red flowers with pale tips among pointed green leaves

Red-and-cream Cavendishia bracteata flowers with yellow-green tips hang beneath pale pink bracts

Cavendishia bracteata bears glossy red tubular flowers with cream-colored flared openings beneath red bracts

Two Cavendishia bracteata flower clusters have broad red bracts and red tubes with pale openings

Cavendishia bracteata flowers have red-and-cream tubes with yellow-green tips surrounded by pale pink bracts

A Cavendishia bracteata cluster has deep red bracts around red flowers, some with slender projecting styles

Pink Cavendishia bracteata bracts surround white flowers and exposed pink calyces with long slender styles

A small Cavendishia cluster has drooping rose-pink flowers with pale flared tips beneath rounded leaves

A Cavendishia bracteata cluster has pink bracts around short white flowers beside closed red buds

Cream-white Cavendishia flowers have narrow yellow-green tips beneath small oval green leaves

A branching Cavendishia bracteata shrub bears many pink flower clusters among dense green leaves