Night and Afternoon
(Pseuderanthemum variabile)
Description
Pseuderanthemum variabile is a species of plant in the Acanthaceae family. Its natural habitat is the floor of rainforest or wet eucalyptus forest of northern and eastern Australia, north of Bega, New South Wales. Common names include night and afternoon, pastel flower and love flower. It is a ground cover, up to 30 cm high, with hairy stems. Leaves are from 2 to 7 cm wide and up to 4 cm wide, lanceolate to ovate in shape. Sometimes a hard mineral deposit occurs on the leaves. The base of the leaf can be purple and dotted with glands. The violet-sized flowers appear between November and May, and can be white, lilac, purple or blue, often with spots near the middle. Occasionally the flowers do not open and are self fertilising. The fruit is a capsule, sometimes hairy.
Taxonomic tree:
