Japanese name: ペリストロフェ スペキオサ Scientific name:Peristrophe speciosa
[Overview]
An evergreen perennial or subshrub 0.8–1 m tall.
Leaves are simple and opposite, ovate, 8–16 cm long and 4–9 cm wide, with entire margins.
Reddish purple flowers bloom at the stem tips and in the upper leaf axils.
The flowers are labiate and twisted 180 degrees so that top and bottom are reversed.
The apparent upper lip is shallowly 3-lobed with a dark reddish purple blotch at the base, and the lower lip hangs down.
The corolla lobes of both the upper and lower lips are 2 cm long, and the corolla tube is about 2.5 cm long.
The fruit is a capsule.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It can overwinter if the temperature stays at 8–10°C or above.
It prefers a sunny site with soil that is well drained and retains water well.
It tolerates bright shade.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
