Cuphea lanceolata, also known as the Cigar Flower, is a annual

Annual

Annual or yearly is a word often used to describe something that happens once a year. Circannual describes events that take place over the course of one year and repeat year after year."Annual" may be an abbreviation for:*Yearbook*Annual plant...

 herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

 flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 in the genus Cuphea

Cuphea

Cuphea is a genus containing about 260 species of annual and perennial flowering plants native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species range from low-growing herbs to semi-woody shrubs up to 2 m tall. Commonly they are known as cupheas, or, in the case of some species,...

, belonging to the Lythraceae

Lythraceae

Lythraceae are a family of flowering plants. It includes about 620 species of mostly herbs, with some shrubs and trees, in 31 genera. Major genera include Cuphea , Lagerstroemia , Nesaea , Rotala , and Lythrum...

family.

Description

Cuphea lanceolata reaches on average a height of 45–60 cm (17.7–23.6 ). It has a branched stem with opposite, narrow, up to 7 cm long leaves. The flowers are tubular, dark-lilac or cherry-red, with six petals. The two upper petals are large and ear-shaped, while the others are quite small. The flowering period extends from June through August. The fruit is a capsule.

External links

• Daves Garden
• Rare Plants