Galphimia gracilis

Native from Mexico to Peru and in northeastern Brazil, this plant is an evergreen shrub widely cultivated in warm regions for its long display of yellow flowers. It typically reaches five to nine feet tall where winters are frost-free. The flowers grow in clusters at the branch tips, with five petals narrowed into slender bases and a broader upper petal. Reddish hairs give the young shoots their color. It is often confused with similar species in the nursery trade; its petals fall away as the fruit develops. It can be propagated from seed or stem cuttings. Photographed in Mariquita, Colombia.