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Cuphea ignea
Also called Cigar plant, Firecracker plant, Mexican Cigar, Mexican Cigarplant, Cigar Flower Plant, Firecracker Bush, Cigar
In Singapore: Mexican Cigar Flower, Firecracker Plant, Cigar Flower, Cigarette Plant, Red-white-and-blue Flower, 雪茄花 (Grown in Singapore)
Cigar flower is a tropical, bushy evergreen subshrub with small bright green leaves and tubular red to orange flowers that look like lit cigars, loved by hummingbirds and butterflies. It grows well in warmth and sun, with well-drained soil and steady watering.
Cuphea ignea, the cigar plant, cigar flower, firecracker plant, or Mexican cigar, sometimes referred to as cigarette plant or cigarette bush is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cuphea of the family Lythraceae. It is a tropical, densely branched evergreen subshrub. This species, native to Mexico and the West Indies, produces small, tubular, bright red to orange flowers. Each flower is tipped with a thin white rim and two small purple-black petals. The flowers, which are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies, resemble lit cigars, hence the name ignea, which is Latin for "fiery".
The genus name Cuphea comes from the Greek word kyphos which means curved or humped; this is thought to refer to the shape of the seeds. The leaves are small, elliptical and of a bright green colour. It grows to about 60 cm (24 in).
In temperate climates Cuphea ignea requires a warm, sheltered spot, as it does not tolerate frost. Alternately it may be grown under glass or indoors as a houseplant. In the UK this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).
In the US, Cuphea ignea is winter hardy to USDA zones 10–12. It is somewhat drought tolerant, but prefers well-watered, well-drained soils.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cuphea ignea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
