Strobilanthes dyeriana


Strobilanthes dyeriana, the Persian shield or royal purple plant, is a species of flowering plant in the acanthus family Acanthaceae, native to Myanmar.

Name

The Latin specific epithet dyeriana honours the English botanist Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer.

Description

Growing to tall and broad, it is a tropical evergreen shrub, cultivated for its dark green foliage with bright, metallic-purple stripes radiating outward from the central leaf vein. In proper conditions, it will also produce pale purple flowers.

Cultivation

With a minimum temperature of, S. dyeriana grows best in USDA Zones 10–11. In more temperate climates it is grown as a houseplant. It prefers a warm, humid position in good light. As the intense purple colour may fade with age, it is often treated as an annual. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.