Cyrtandra cleopatrae

Description

Cyrtandra cleopatrae is a species of plant in the Gesneriaceae family endemic to the Philippines. It is a tropical shrub having recaulescent inflorescences composed of multiple purpled flowers that emerge on the plant stem from stubby shoots. It was first collected for science during a 1998 expedition sponsored by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, from a location in Palawan called Cleopatra's Needle (elev. 1550m), thus the specific epithet "cleopatrae". The taxon was first published in the Edinburgh Journal of Botany in 2001.