General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Partial or Dappled Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Soil pH Preferences: Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 10a -1.1 °C (30 °F) to +1.7 °C (35 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 12
Plant Height: 12 - 24 inches
Plant Spread: 24 - 48 inches
Leaves: Unusual foliage color
Evergreen
Other: Green, covered in soft, reddish-purple hairs.
Flowers: Showy
Malodorous
Other: Plants usually will not flower when grown in lower light situations.
Flower Color: Other: yellowish-orange to reddish-orange
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Late winter or early spring
Late fall or early winter
Winter
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Houseplant
Terrariums
Uses: Will Naturalize
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots

Image
Common names
  • Purple Velvet Plant
  • Purple Passion Plant
  • Velvet Plant
  • Royal Velvet Plant

Photo Gallery
Location: Sebastian,  Florida
Date: 2022-03-30
Location: Sebastian,  Florida
Date: 2022-03-30
Location: Sebastian,  Florida
Date: 2022-03-30
Location: Eagle Bay, New York
Date: 2024-12-31
Purple Velvet Plant (Gynura aurantiaca) aka Purple Passion Plant
Location: Eagle Bay, New York
Date: 2025-01-05
Purple Passion Plant (Gynura aurantiaca), vivid leaf colour
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-09-18
Location: Eagle Bay, New York
Date: 2025-01-20
Purple Velvet Plant (Gynura aurantiaca) aka Purple Passion Plant
Location: Cordoba, Argentina
Location: Cordoba, Argentina

Date: 28 May 2023
Photo courtesy of Didier Descouens via Wikimedia Commons
Comments:
  • Posted by adknative (Eagle Bay, New York - Zone 3b) on Jan 1, 2025 2:57 PM concerning plant:
    My mother had one of these Purple Passion Plants (aka Purple Velvet Plant) in an entryway of our house back in the '70s. It started out on a shelf next to an 8 x 4 picture window and promptly settled in and happily began to grow. It was planted into a window sill 'window box' ... ie, a long pot about 8-inches wide and about 30 to 36-inches long. Being a vine, it soon began to wander along the long shelf ... from one end to the other, the full 8-foot length.

    Never heard of or saw one grow so well until that one, but it flourished in the northern window. It put out multiple vines ... some hung down from the shelf, the rest ran along the length of it. When it got to the end of the entryway ... it kept going. My mother was amused, and trained it up over the doorway and down to the opposite side of the entryway where... you guessed it: there was a second 8 x 4-foot picture window and a matching shelf.

    Both windows and shelves were filled with other houseplants and the Purple Passion Plant only had the one long pot... but it kept growing. It finally reached almost to the end of the opposite wall's shelf and 8-ft picture window. It was massive! We measured the longest vine and it was over 20-feet in length (running along the first window, across the end of the room and over the door, then back up the third wall of the room). Incredible. And then it flowered ... vivid orange trumpet-shaped blooms along the entire length of that massive vine. The contrast between the bright purple and vivid orange was intense, and mother had that Purple Passion Plant for nearly 10 years... until my parents sold the house and moved. It was too large to take with her, but she took slips from it to start more.
  • Posted by bxncbx (NYC - Zone 7a) on Jun 1, 2017 12:06 PM concerning plant:
    The flowers to me smell musty or mildewy. Not pleasant! The plants are quite beautiful though.
Plant Events from our members
hlutzow On August 23, 2020 Plant Ended (Removed, Died, Discarded, etc)
Eaten by mysterious midnight visitor, likely a rat.
hlutzow On February 12, 2020 Obtained plant
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