Combretum fruticosum

Native from Mexico through Central America to tropical South America, it is a woody climber that can also grow as a scrambling shrub when it lacks support. It occurs in both moist and dry forests. The opposite, elliptical leaves bear tiny golden scales, especially on their undersides. Dense flower spikes grow in the leaf axils and at branch tips. Each flower has four small petals and eight long stamens, giving the spikes a bottlebrush shape. Yellow to greenish-yellow flowers develop reddish colors as they age. The fruits often turn red and have four broad wings. In northeastern Brazil, hummingbirds and other nectar-feeding birds transfer pollen between plants; the species requires cross-pollination to set fruit. Photographed in the department of Atlántico, Colombia.