Hirtella racemosa

Native from Mexico through tropical America, this shrub or small tree inhabits forests and other humid lowland vegetation. Its alternate leaves are elliptic to oblong, with pointed tips and very short stalks. Slender flowering clusters develop at branch tips and in the leaf axils. The flowers have pink to purple petals and long, projecting stamens. Smooth, oval fruits follow flowering, with a thin fleshy layer surrounding the hard inner stone. Flattened nectar glands on the leaves provide food for visiting ants. Photographed in Colombia.