Plant Details
Plant Details
Plant Details
Plant Details
Plant Details
Plant Details
Plant Details
Plant Details
Plant Details
Plant Details
Meet the Plants
Home
Photo Gallery
Choose A Plant
Permission to Use Photos
Links
Currently Viewing: Mussaenda 'Queen Sirikit'
Mussaenda 'Queen Sirikit' - Flowering branches
P. Goltra
Other Resources for Mussaenda 'Queen Sirikit'
Taxonomy:
Mussaenda ‘Queen Sirikit’ (Rubiaceae)

Classification:

Kingdom: Plantae-Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta-Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta-Seed plants
Division; Magnoliophyta-Flowering plants
Class: Dicotyledonae
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiacea
Genus: Mussaenda
Cultivar: ‘Queen Sirikit’

Description:
Mussaenda 'Queen Sirikit' is a shrub to 7 m tall with dense hairs on the stems. Leaves are about 15 x 8cm., ovate shaped with a pointed apex and sometimes hairy underneath.
In this Mussaenda cultivar the bract-like calyx lobes (calycophylls) are actually more colorful and showy than the flowers. Each flower has 5 pale pink calycophylls up to 15 cm long. The actual corollas are much smaller (and bright yellow. This cultivar rarely sets fruit.

(Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)

Geographic Distribution:
Queen Sirikit is a cross between a cultivar of Mussaenda erythrophylla 'Dona Trining', a West African species and a cultivar of Mussaenda philippica ‘Aurorae’ which is native to the Philippines.
Queen Sirikit was bred in the Philippines in the 1940s. There are more than 200 known species of Mussaenda worldwide, of which about ten are found in cultivation, with three of these being widely used for landscaping.
(Smith, A. C. 1988. Flora Vitiensis Nova Vol. 4)
(McLaughlin, J. and Garofalo, J. Mussaendas for South Florida Landscapes)

(Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)

Food Uses:
In some areas of the world such as tropical Africa the fruits of Mussaenda species are consumed as subsistance food.
(McLaughlin, John and Garofalo, Joe. Mussaendas for South Florida Landscapes)

Medicinal Uses:**
The root of M. erythrophylla is chewed in Africa as an appetite stimulant. Bark and leaves of Mussaenda are used medicinally in Samoan and Fijian culture.
(Smith, A. C. 1988. Flora Vitiense Nova Vol. 4)
(McLaughlin, John and Garofalo, Joe. Mussaendas for South Florida Landscapes)

(Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)



** The information provided above is not intended to be used as a guide for treatment of medical conditions using plants.

Species Interconnections and Interdependencies:
The flowers are of two different forms, one with long female parts (styles), and the other with short styles. This is strategy, called heterostyly, ensures that flowers are pollinated by pollen from another flower.
(Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)

Native Legends and Names:
Queen Sirikit was named for the Queen of Thailand to commemorate her first visit to the Philippines in the 1970's. This is the only Mussaenda cultivar ever to be given a name of a non-Filipino.

(http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/MUSSAENDA_peach.htm)

Share This Page  |  Back to top

 

Choose a Plant

 

Whole Word Search - Taxonomy
(scientific name or common name)

 

  • Users of this search feature should note that common names are often used for more than one plant species.
  • When searching for common names in the Hawaiian language, the name may include okina, each instance represented by an apostrophe (') or glottal stop (`).