Cute Cuphea

Cuphea hyssopifolia, commonly called Mexican heather, is native from Mexico to Guatemala. It is a rounded, densely branched 1-2’ tall tropical sub-shrub. It produces quaint, small, trumpet-shaped flowers with six spreading lavender petals and green calyx tubes. Flowers appear singly in the leaf axils along stems crowded with lance-shaped glossy green leaves (to 3/4” long). Blooms profusely summer to frost. Although heather-like in appearance, this plant is not a member of the heather family, hence the sometimes used common name of false heather. Some white- and pink-flowered cultivars are available. Flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.

Winter hardy to USDA Zones 9-11. In the St. Louis area, it is grown as an annual, container plant or houseplant. In the garden, it is easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun. May be grown from seed started indoors 8-10 weeks before last frost date. Tolerates high summer heat and some drought. Best with regular moisture. If grown in containers, plants may be overwintered indoors in warm, sunny locations. Easily propagated from tip cuttings. Best to start new plants each year, however.

Source: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=282494&isprofile=0&

Family Name : Lythraceae

Synonyms : Cuphea rivularis, Ammania hyssopifolia

Common Names : False Heather, Hawaiian Heather, Elfin Herb, Elfin Plant, Cuphea, Clammy Cuphea, Corail, Tarweed, Mexican Heather, Heather

Chinese Name : 细叶雪茄花, 满天星

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http://hasbrouck.asu.edu/imglib/seinet/Lythraceae/photos/Cuphea_hyssop.JPG

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Elfin Herb Thrives in Windowsill Gardens

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In a collection of small, potted plants that I bought at a plant society sale, there was a slight, unimpressive "green thing" labeled "elfin herb." Everyone present agreed that it was indeed elfin, otherwise it was nameless.

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When the diminutive plant bloomed in a few weeks, its identity was established. It was Cuphea hyssopifolia. In this somewhat cumbersome Latin name, Cuphea is from the Greek word "curved" for the shape of the seed capsule and hyssopifolia means "with leaves like hyssop." It is a petite and floriferous charmer, nevertheless, and well worth adding to the indoor garden.

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Cuphea hyssopifolia conies from a family of about 250 different annuals, evergreen perenials and subshurbs native to Mexico and south into Peru. Among its relatives are the garden flowers, Lythrum, and the Crape Myrtleso familiar in this area. The numerous, tiny bell-like purplish-rose flowers account for its other names - Mexican Heather or False Heather.

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The Elfin Herb is a shrubby little plant, rarely exceeding 10 inches in height. Its linear leaves, less than half an inch long, are crowded on the branches, making the foliage almost fern-like. It grows well in any exposure except north and thrives in direct, but in summer the plant should be shaded if it is in a south window.

Under fluorescent lights, Elfin Herb blooms at a distance of 15 inches from the tubes for whatever length of time is provided for other light garden plants. Normal house temperature agrees with it in summer or winter. As a tropical plant, it will not survive outdoors in winter in our latitude. It should be fertilized with water-soluble fertilizer every two weeks.

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An attractive compact plant can be grown in a 3- or 4-inch pot. Keep it neat and compact at about eight inches by trimming or clipping branch tips. This pinching back encourages flowering. Groom by shaking off flowers as they fade. A brisk spray at the kitchen sink refreshes and cleanes the plant and is insurance that mites or aphids won't take up residence.

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Cuttings of new shoots in the spring can be used to propagate more plants. Place the cuttings in moist vermiculite and shade them until rooted about two weeks; then pot the new plants in regular potting mix. Seed propagation is easy, although cuttings are a quicker means of acquiring vigorous extras. Collect the little black seeds by shaking a plant that has bloomed over a sheet of white paper.

Another Cuphea frequently seen along with Elfin Herb in greenhouses specializing in houseplants is the Firecracker Plant or Cigar Flower, Cuphea platycentra (Cuphea ignea). A variety called "Firefly" is considered especially desirable.

https://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2003/01/20/Floridian/9bedfc.jpg

These two easily grown Cupheas are becoming more familiar and more available as indoor gardeners seek out plants small enough to be accomodated in limited quarters and still be able to give profuse and continuous bloom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/07/06/elfin-herb-thrives-in-windowsill-gardens/a437e342-22df-45b7-bcb1-f2527c8f6b96/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a371b9f002f2

Family Name : Lythraceae
Synonyms : Cuphea rivularis, Ammania hyssopifolia

Common Names : False Heather, Hawaiian Heather, Elfin Herb, Elfin Plant, Cuphea, Clammy Cuphea, Corail, Tarweed, Mexican Heather, Heather

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4043/4522904644_e3bf94a532_o.jpg

Plant Division :
Angiosperms (Flowering Seed Plants) (Dicotyledon)
Plant Growth Form :
Shrub (Woody)

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Plant Morphology :
Growth Form: An erect to spreading, low-branching, compact, free-flowering subshrub with finely-textured leaves.
Foliage: Leaves simple, subsessile (with slight stalks), opposite, pinnately-veined, oblong, sometimes elliptic, glossy, medium to dark green, 10 to 30 mm long, 1.5 to 4 mm wide, with pubescent (covered with hair) undersides.
Stems: Multi-branched, puberulent (covered with soft, fine hairs) and reddish strigose (appressed stiff hairs).
Flowers: Flowers solitary in the axils of new leaves, trumpet-shaped, pedicels 2 to 7 mm long; petals 6, purple, 3 to 3.5 mm long; sepals crinkled, rarely absent; calyx 5 to 8 mm long; floral tube pale green, sometimes turning purplish toward apex, glabrous or slightly pubescent.
Fruits: Fruit capsules dehiscent, leathery or berrylike, oblong-ovoid, 1-celled, up to 3.5 mm long, containing numerous seeds; seeds reddish brown, suborbicular, 1 to 1.5mm in diameter, pitted.

http://www.plantsworld.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Cuphea-hybrid-white-Cuphea-hyssopifolia-hybrid-White.jpg

Cultivation :
Tolerates many soil types but requires ample moisture to become established in full sun or semi-shade. Prefers well-drained fertile soils with frequent light fertilizations. When plant becomes scraggly, tips can be pinched to incorporate vigour and to attain lush growth and more blooms. Easily propagated by softwood cuttings. Obtaining new plants from seed is difficult due to very poor germination rate. Plant also reproduces by layering, whereby the horizontal branches touch the ground and set roots.

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Etymology :
The genus epithet ‘Cuphea’ comes from the Greek word kyphos, means curved, in reference to the shape of the seed capsules. The species epithet ‘hyssopifolia’ refers to the shape of the leaves which are like those of the herb Hyssop. Not a true heather, the leaves resemble to those of Scotch heather (Calluna vulgaris), thus derived its common name false heather.

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Desirable Plant Features :
Ornamental Flowers

Associated Fauna :
Bee-Attracting

Light Preference :
Full Sun
Water Preference :
Moderate Water

Mature Foliage Colour(s) :
Green

Flower Colour(s) :
Purple

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https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/Special-Pages/plant-detail.aspx?id=1896

The genus epithet ‘Cuphea’ comes from the Greek word kyphos, means curved, in reference to the shape of the seed capsules. The species epithet ‘hyssopifolia’ refers to the shape of the leaves which are like those of the herb Hyssop. Not a true heather, the leaves resemble to those of Scotch heather (Calluna vulgaris), thus derived its common name false heather.

Growth Form: An erect to spreading, low-branching, compact, free-flowering subshrub with finely-textured leaves.
Foliage: Leaves simple, subsessile (with slight stalks), opposite, pinnately-veined, oblong, sometimes elliptic, glossy, medium to dark green, 10 to 30 mm long, 1.5 to 4 mm wide, with pubescent (covered with hair) undersides.
Stems: Multi-branched, puberulent (covered with soft, fine hairs) and reddish strigose (appressed stiff hairs).
Flowers: Flowers solitary in the axils of new leaves, trumpet-shaped, pedicels 2 to 7 mm long; petals 6, white, 3 to 3.5 mm long; sepals crinkled, rarely absent; calyx 5 to 8 mm long; floral tube pale green, sometimes turning whitish toward apex, glabrous or slightly pubescent.
Fruits: Fruit capsules dehiscent, leathery or berrylike, oblong-ovoid, 1-celled, up to 3.5 mm long, containing numerous seeds; seeds reddish brown, suborbicular, 1 to 1.5mm in diameter, pitted.
Cultivation :
Tolerates many soil types but requires ample moisture to become established in full sun or semi-shade. Prefers well-drained fertile soils with frequent light fertilizations. When plant becomes scraggly, tips can be pinched to incorporate vigour and to attain lush growth and more blooms. Easily propagated by softwood cuttings. Obtaining new plants from seed is difficult due to very poor germination rate. Plant also reproduces by layering, whereby the horizontal branches touch the ground and set roots.

Source:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/special-pages/plant-detail.aspx%3Fid%3D1897&ved=2ahUKEwjOubXl8cHeAhWE-6QKHcE-BSkQFjALegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3n7XkK47N4Xuz5Ir25_3Y4&cshid=1541580634783

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Cuphea hyssofifolia::

The clarification is as follows:

All image from Google!

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