Pucker up for Palicourea elata
(Sw.) Borhidi
Read more to learn about the story behind the plant known as "Hot Lips" and why it wouldn't be such a good idea to give this plant a kiss!
Listen to the Story with Audio...
And scroll down to read along...
Have you ever heard of the 'Hot Lips' plant?
It's scientific name is Palicourea elata
(recently changed from Psychotria elata)
This unusual species is a type of tropical understory shrub
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It belongs to the Rubiaceae family - otherwise known as the coffee family as this family contains the plants we use to produce coffee beans
Where to find it...
You can find these 'Hot Lips' in the Tropical Rainforests of Central and South America
Bright red bracts
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It might be assumed that the two bright red structures are petals, however this is not the case.
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They are in fact modified leaves, called bracts.
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The way that these 2 red, waxy bracts are arranged gives the appearance of luscious lips.
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White star-shaped flowers
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This lip lookalike display does not last too long however, as the next stage of growth leads to the opening of these bracts, whereby several little white star-shaped flowers appear.
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Let's take a closer look at its features:
Thinking back to what we learnt in the IDENTIFY section, you may be able to hazard a guess as to what type of plant Palicourea elata is?
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Answer: ANGIOSPERM
The Story behind the Pouting Plant...
Palicourea elata is trying to catch someone's eye...
The bright red bracts
catch the eye of hummingbirds
(as well as
butterflies),
which have an important
relationship with this plant.
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The hummingbird inserts its long beak into the tubular white flowers to receive a tasty nectar reward.
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In doing this, it also provides a pollination service to the plant by distributing pollen from flower to flower, as well as from plant to plant when the hummingbird flies from one 'Hot Lips' shrub to the next.
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Once the flowers have undergone pollination, small round fruits develop. They are blue-ish in colour.
Watch the
animation below:
It would not be advisable to kiss one of these 'Hot Lips' plants!
Whilst it does contain toxic and psychoactive compounds, toxicity can be a good indicator that a plant contains active compounds which could also have medicinal potential...
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In fact, various communities of Indigenous Peoples, who live in/near the tropical rainforests where this plant grows, have used it in remedies for a number of ailments including: headaches, snake-bites and in midwifery!
They contain psychoactive alkaloids
(chemicals which affect the way that the brain and nervous system work).
A kiss from Palicourea elata could lead to hallucinations in addition to various other symptoms!
Under threat?
In America, cultivated plants of this species have often been a popular gift plant for Valentine's Day. In the wild however, Palicourea elata is on its way to becoming endangered.
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Unfortunately, due to deforestation of the tropical rainforests in Central and South America, the native habitat of this unique and incredible species is vanishing.
References:
Harrison, C., Gardiner, L. (2016) Bizzare Botany: An A-Z Adventure through the Plant Kingdom. Surrey: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, pp. 69.
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Matsuura, H. N., Porto, D. D., Fett-Neto, A. G. (2013) 'Bioactive Alkaloids from South American Psychotria and Related Rubiaceae' in Ramawat, Kishan Gopal, Mérillon, Jean-Michel (Eds.) Natural Products. Berlin: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 125-127.