Kohleria affinis (Caracola)

Native from Colombia to Peru, caracola is a herbaceous, climbing, or epiphytic member of the gesneriad family. Opposite, oval leaves have toothed margins and rusty hairs beneath. Long-stalked, hanging flower clusters develop from the leaf axils. The blossoms have swollen tubular corollas, ranging from lilac to red, with contrasting pale or greenish lobes marked by dark spots. Brown capsules contain small seeds. The species grows in Andean and Pacific-region forests and at forest edges, from low elevations to about 11,480 feet in Colombia. Photographed in Colombia.