Lycianthes lycioides

Native from northwestern Venezuela through western South America to northwestern Argentina, this shrub belongs to the nightshade family and grows in seasonally dry tropical habitats. Its purple, star-shaped flowers have five pointed lobes and prominent yellow-orange anthers. It grows about 6.5 feet tall, with many branches whose tips can become spiny. The flowers develop into small orange berries. In the Bogotá area, it grows in gardens, along roadsides and in dry, relatively undisturbed places. Photographed in the Andes of Colombia and Peru.