Ceratostema lanigerum

Endemic to Ecuador, this epiphytic shrub in the heath family grows on trees in humid forests. Its long, flexible branches carry triangular to heart-shaped leaves, and soft hairs cover the stems and foliage. New growth can be bronze or copper-red. The hanging, hairy red flowers have dark blue-black lobes that curve backward. In Ecuador’s Pastaza and Morona-Santiago provinces, it grows beside rivers, on rocky escarpments, and along roadbanks at about 2,600 to 3,600 feet. Like other members of its genus, it produces berries with numerous seeds. The species is endangered. Photographed in northeastern Ecuador.