I really don’t know where to start with this species. It is wickedly attractive and beguiling – both its leaves and flowers – that part is easy to conclude. I long suspected it was some horticultural monstrosity that wasn’t validly published, but recently learned I was wrong. At least about the latter bit. There is much still to learn about evolutionary and possibly anthropological history of this species.

Not vouchered, cultivated RSABG greenhouses; Photo by Erin Tripp