Hot Lips Flower

Psychotria

It is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. It contains around 1,850 species and is therefore one of the largest genera of flowering plant. Psychotria elata is a tropical tree found in the rain forests of Central and South American countries.

The plant has become internet-famous because of its flowers or rather the shape of the red bracts before the flowers mature.Hot Lips grows where the soil is rich and humid from leaf litter, moist and sheltered from the most powerful sun rays by upper story trees.

Psychotria elata is an understory shrub of the Rubiaceae family found throughout Central America from low to mid-elevation. It is most recognized for its pair of bright red lip-shaped bracts surrounding small, white, tubular flowers.

This heterostylus plant is hummingbird-pollinated, though it is visited by other insects such as butterflies, and its small blue fruits are dispersed by birds. Little is known about herbivory for the species. The presence of alkaloids in P. elata has led to its common use as a medicinal plant within indigenous populations of Central America.