Monnina aestuans
Native to Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, this shrub or small tree grows in mountain habitats. In Colombia it occurs in the Andes and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, including high Andean forests, subpƔramo scrub and rocky slopes. Its purple-blue flowers have a yellow, keel-shaped lower petal. The fleshy fruits are green while immature, ripening to purple or blue. Flowerpiercers eat the fruits whole in NariƱo, Colombia, potentially helping disperse the seeds. Photographed in the eastern Andes mountain range of Colombia.
