Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Cupid's bow

(Achimenes longiflora)

galery
en

Description

Achimenes longiflora has many common names including Cupid's bow, nut-orchid, and magic flower. It can grow up to 60 cm (24 in) long, arising from small rhizomes. The hairy leaves have saw toothed edges and can be up to 90 mm (3+1⁄2 in) long and 40 mm (1+1⁄2 in) wide. The flowers are produced from June to October and are usually blue with a white throat. They can be quite large – up to 50 mm (2 in) long and 75 mm (3 in) across. This flor de peña (rock flower) was collected and documented in late summer blooming on embankments and along roadsides at intermediate elevations in Guatemala in the 1970s by Carol Rogers Chickering. Achimenes is a genus of about 25 species of tropical and subtropical rhizomatous perennial herbs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. They have a multitude of common names such as magic flowers, widow's tears, Cupid's bower, or hot water plant. The genus is native to Mexico and Central America, with one species (A. erecta) occurring naturally in the West Indies. The largest number of species is found in Mexico. Several species and hybrids are widely cultivated and naturalized outside their native range. A complete list of the species, with their synonyms and geographic distributions, can be found in the Smithsonian Institution's World Checklist of Gesneriaceae. Two species previously included in Achimenes are now classified in the segregation genus Eucodonia and several phylogenetic studies have supported this separation.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Lamiales
Family:Gesneriaceae
Genus:Achimenes
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