Japanese name: プセウドランテマム アトロプルプレウム Scientific name:Pseuderanthemum atropurpureum
[Overview]
An evergreen perennial or shrub 1–2 m tall.
Leaves are simple and opposite, long-ovate to broadly elliptic, 8–15 cm long and 4–10 cm wide, with entire margins.
They have short petioles.
Leaf color varies greatly: green, green tinged with dark purple, with yellowish-white blotches, or pink.
The leaf color may also change depending on light conditions.
Spikes up to 18 cm long arise at the branch tips and in the leaf axils.
The flowers are tubular, 2.5 cm in both length and diameter, and split at the tip into 5 lobes in a two-lipped form.
The flower color is pale red or white, with red spots.
The fruit is a capsule.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
To overwinter, keep it at 5°C or higher, and bring it into a bright place indoors in winter.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained soil that retains water well.
Take care not to let it dry out; from spring to autumn, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and keep it on the dry side in winter.
From spring to autumn, apply slow-release chemical fertilizer placed on the soil.
Pests include aphids, spider mites and scale insects.
