Codonanthe is a New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

 genus, consists of a dozen or more species of evergreen epiphytic

Epiphyte

An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...

 compact creeping vines with rooting along their stems, and scandent herbs or subshrubs with woody, upright stems from Brazil, Guiana, Central America and West Indies. In its own habitat, the plant usually grows in association with tree ant nests. The botanical name comes from the Greek for bellflower. Small nice red stems held flat or hanging, about 30cm long, with pairs of relatively succulent, hard-surfaced and small round dark foliage. Delicate, pale-pink to white, bell-shaped flowers grow from the leaf axil, either single or in group and always produce in a large number. Flower tube has 2 lips, each with 2 and 3 lobes; which may be white, pink, lilac to deep purple with yellow throat. These delightful waxy flowers are strongly scented. Attractive colorful berry-like fruits appear after flowering. Seeds look like ant eggs or larvae, which are carried to the nest by ants and inserted into the fertile nest wall where they germinate. Seeds that germinate outside a nest tend to grow slower.

Species

Codonanthe calcarata

Codonanthe caribae

Codonanthe corniculata

Codonanthe carnosa

Codonanthe crassifolia

Codonanthe decurrens

Codonanthe devosiana

Codonanthe digna

Codonanthe dissimulata

Codonanthe gracilis

Codonanthe luteola

Codonanthe macradenia

Codonanthe uleana

Codonanthe ulei