Maybe the folks in Florida can help me get this to a more specific id. Is this M. erythrophylla perhaps? This was growing as a shrub in someone's yard in Arenal, Costa Rica. It was about 5' tall and simply loaded with big rose pink bracts. It was something. It was inside a fence, so I had to squeeze the camera through an opening to get the photo!

Definitely Mussaenda but I'm not real familiar with them since they don't grow this far north in the state so I don't know which species or cultivar that might be ... sure is a beauty though! If you aren't able to get an exact ID you can post your photo's at the general database entry here: Paper-Rose (Mussaenda) and if someone by chance recognizes it in the future it can be moved to the correct location.

Some photo's for comparison:

M. philippica: http://toptropicals.com/catalo...

M. erythrophylla: http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu...

M. erythrophylla: http://mgonline.com/articles/m...

Or, it could be a cross...M erythrophylla and M phillipica. Something like Mussaenda ' Dona Luz'

https://almostedenplants.com/s...

According to this link, it would seem M erythrophylla has a single red enlarged sepal..

http://www-public.jcu.edu.au/d...

http://cookislands.bishopmuseu...

After reading the links y'all found, I'm inclined to think what I saw was either a hybrid or an improved cultivar of some sort. It could have been at least three of the named cultivars seen in some of the photos. Might depend on the height or some other variance to determine the distinguishing feature that differentiates one from another. At least M. erythrophylla was described as having red bracts in several of the links this one was most definitely not red. It was the deep pink of some of those old fashioned cabbage roses. True pink, not some lavender or lilac or faded red color. Guess keeping it labeled as Mussaenda will have to be enough. Thanks. I wonder that it's not grown more like Brugmansias. Sounds like it wouldn't be too much different to grow.

Also, the corolla is yellow in M phillipica, and is a creamy white in M erythrophylla.

This is the mussaenda from Flecker Botanic garden labeled Mussaenda phillipica, common name Bangkok Rose.



The info I read gave zone 9b as the coldest zone for outdoor growth. The suggestion was to treat it as a large house plant.

Looks like the common Mussaenda erythrophylla.

Metrosideros said:Looks like the common Mussaenda erythrophylla.

LOL! That phrasing sounds funny to me. It's not common in my part of Texas. I've never seen it growing except for the one time in Costa Rica. When I've traveled to warmer, wetter climates I have found Bougainvilla to be commonly grown. But everything follows behind Lantana. I've never traveled anywhere that didn't have a spot of it growing somewhere. I think I was most surprised to see it growing in a street median in Cairo. In your location, I'm sure it may be common. You get to see a lot of beautiful tropical plants, I expect.