Pachystachys lutea
Pachystachys lutea, known by the common names lollipop plant and golden shrimp plant, is a subtropical, soft-stemmed evergreen shrub between 36 and 48 inches tall. The zygomorphic, long-throated, short-lived white flowers emerge sequentially from overlapping bright yellow bracts on racemes that are produced throughout the warm months. It is a popular landscape plant in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
It grows in almost any well-drained soil but, like most ornamentals, prefers a soil with an acid reaction. In this preferred medium they attain their maximum in leaf size and colouring.
The Latin specific epithet lutea means “yellow”.
The plant is popular with hummingbirds.
It is cultivated as an ornamental, but in cold temperate regions it requires protection from temperatures below. It has won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
