Graptophyllum excelsum

(Scarlet Fuchsia, Prickly Fuchsia)

Description

This prickly shrub can be found near the northern entrance to Earth and Environmental Sciences in Townsville, it is also present on the Cairns campus. In nature this species is rare. It grows to about 3 m and bears leaves which are in pairs of approximately equal size. The leaf margins are entire or slightly toothed. The flowers, that are markedly asymmetrical, have blood red petals fused into a tube for about 1 cm, the upper corolla lobe is about 1 cm long and is notched at the apex, the other petals curved backwards, there are two protruding stamens. Fruit a somewhat cylindrical capsule to 2.7 cm long. The other species with red flowers is G. ilicifolium but it has leaves with spinose margins and the leaf pairs are unequal in size.