FAMILY | ACANTHACEAE

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GARDENING | PLANT ID

acanthus family

Many members of the Acanthaceae family are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines.

Ruellia                                                 

Mexican Petunia (Ruellia )

Mexican Petunia (Ruellia )

Ruellia and butterfly or moth
Sometimes you don't know what you will find until you take a closer look.

Anisacanthus                     

Hummingbird Bush
Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii

Hummingbird bush, flame acanthus begins blooming in late June through October.

My west fence row is covered with flame acanthus, turk's cap and further back, in the shade, abelia, The hummingbirds visits at about 8:00 - 11:30 every day. The shrub receives morning sun. They are semi-deciduous in hardiness zone 7b/8a. I use wire fencing to keep it upright. I use a second shorter wire fence to support the turk's cap, used as a bedding plant lining te front of the flame acanthus. This provides a va-va-voom of red flowers along the fence row. 

Acanthus                                            

Bear's Breeches, Acanthus mollis
The warriors headdress replicates the form of the floral inflorescence.

"Acanthus mollis, commonly known as bear’s breeches, is a clump-forming perennial that is grown as much for its attractive foliage as for its architecturally bold flower spikes. It is native to the Mediterranean region. Acanthus leaves have a classical appearance and were the source of the Corinthian leaf motif developed and used as a decoration in ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture. It is believed that the leaves of  Acanthus mollis or  Acanthus spinosis were the model for the sculptured leaves that adorn the capitals of the Corinthian columns that became popular in the 4th century B.C." MBG

Bear's breeches (Acanthus mollis)

Strobilanthes                                    

Persian Shield  (Strobilanthes dyerianus)

©  Grassroots Horticulture

2019

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Hummingbird Haven

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Wildlife Gardening

CREATING Color and scent

Hummingbird Bush, Flame Acanthus begins blooming in late June

My west fence row is covered with flame acanthus, turk's cap and abelia, The hummingbird visits at about 11:30 every day. The abelias are fountain shaped and are lovely underneath native oaks (post oak and Black Jack oak). They produce a beautiful scent throughout the spring, summer, and fall.

softly scented abelia flowers

Other pollinators can be found throughout the day.

Turk's cap

Ruellia and butterfly or moth
Sometimes you don't know what you will find until you take a closer look.

                                                                              





































                                          

Grassroots Horticulture

2006-2019

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Hummingbird Bush

Texas Native

Flame Acanthus                

Hummingbird bush, flame acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii) begins blooming in late June through October and is used in dry, sunny climates of the southwestern United States and is beneficial to wildlife and insects

     My west fence row is covered with flame acanthus, turk's cap and further back, in the shade, abelia (for scent and pollinators). The hummingbirds visits the red flowers at about 8:00 - 11:30 every day. The shrub receives morning sun. They are semi-deciduous in hardiness zone 7b/8a.  They lose the majority of their leaves in the winter, but not all the way to te ground. I do not cut back any branches until it has leafed out in the spring. 

I use wire fencing to keep it upright. I use a second wire fence to support the turk's cap, used as a bedding plant lining the front of the flame acanthus. This provides a va-va-voom of red flowers along the fence row in the summer and fall. The flame acanthus is included in TAMU Earth Kind Plant Selector.

Pollinators can be found throughout the day.

Hummingbird bush, flame acanthus

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii

Sulfur butterfly

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    Hummingbird bush, flame acanthus 

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii

                                                      

PROPAGATION__________________________________

The hummingbird bush flower ceases budding in mid-October and completes it's life cycle by  going to seed.  The fruit is an ovoid capsule containing two to four large flat seeds. The dispersal of seeds is by the wind.  Several plants have propagated in situ at the the base of the current plantings.

As the dehiscent capsule seed pod dries it pops open, revealing two flat, disc-shaped seeds.

hummingbird bush seeds
ID seeds

Bibliography____________________________________

• Hagen, Stanley H. "A Revision of the North American Species of the Genus Anisacanthus." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 28 (1941): 385-408. Print.
• HENRICKSON, JAMES. "Anisacanthus Quadrifidus Sensu Lato (acanthaceae)."Sida, Contributions to Botany. 11.3 (1986): 286-299. Print.
• McCaffrey, Rachel E, and Susan M. Wethington. "How the Presence of Feeders Affects the Use of Local Floral Resources by Hummingbirds: a Case Study from Southern Arizona." The Condor. 110.4 (2008): 786-791. Print.
• Anisacanthus Quadrifidus Var. Wrightii (cultivated). , 2011. Available electronically from http : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /99331.

All material © 2019 by Jeanette Hyden for 

~Grassroots Horticulture~

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