Pachystachys coccinea

Native from Trinidad to Peru, this evergreen tropical shrub grows upright to about one and a half to six and a half feet tall. Its oval to elliptical leaves have slightly wavy edges and can reach about eight inches long. Tubular red flowers emerge among overlapping green bracts in cone-shaped spikes. It is cultivated for its colourful flower clusters. New plants can be raised from stem cuttings. Photographed in Colombia.