Bouvardia ternifolia, the firecracker bush, is a shrub widespread across much of Mexico, the range extending south into Honduras and north into the southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico and Texas).[2][3][4][5]

Firecracker bush

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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Bouvardia
Species:
B. ternifolia
Binomial name
Bouvardia ternifolia
Synonyms[2]
  • Ixora ternifolia Cav.
  • Ixora americana Jacq.
  • Houstonia coccinea Andrews
  • Bouvardia triphylla Salisb.
  • Bouvardia angustifolia Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth
  • Bouvardia hirtella Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth
  • Bouvardia linearis Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth
  • Bouvardia jacquinii Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth
  • Bouvardia coccinea (Andrews) Link
  • Bouvardia jacquinii var. exogyna DC.
  • Bouvardia jacquinii var. ovata DC.
  • Bouvardia quaternifolia DC.
  • Carphalea pubiflora Moc. & Sessé ex DC.
  • Bouvardia splendens Graham
  • Bouvardia tolucana Hook. & Arn.
  • Bouvardia triphylla var. splendens (Graham) Lindl.
  • Bouvardia scabrida M.Martens & Galeotti
  • Bouvardia glaberrima Engelm. in F.A.Wislizenus
  • Bouvardia hypoleuca Benth.
  • Bouvardia ovata A.Gray
  • Bouvardia microphylla Schltdl.
  • Bouvardia tenuiflora Schltdl.
  • Bouvardia viperalis Schltdl.
  • Bouvardia houtteana Schltdl.
  • Bouvardia elegans Hend. & Andr.Hend.
  • Bouvardia hirtella var. quaternifolia (DC.) Rothr.
  • Bouvardia triphylla var. angustifolia (Kunth) A.Gray
  • Bouvardia fruticosa Sessé & Moc.
  • Bouvardia ternifolia var. angustifolia (Kunth) B.L.Rob.
  • Bouvardia endlichii Loes.
  • Bouvardia orizabensis Standl.

Bouvardia ternifolia is a shrub up to 120 cm (4 feet) tall. It has dark green, narrowly egg-shaped leaves. Flowers are speculacular: long, tubular, bright scarlet, up to 10 cm (2 inches) long, in clusters at the ends of the branches. Hummingbirds frequently imbibe the nectar from the blooms.[6][7][8][9][10][11]

Bouvardia ternifolia is widely cultivated as an ornamental because of its showy flowers. It contains Bouvardin which has demonstrated certain anti-cancerous activities.[12][13][14]

References

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  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Bouvardia ternifolia
  3. ^ Biota of North America Program
  4. ^ CONABIO. 2009. Catálogo taxonómico de especies de México. 1. In Capital Nat. México. CONABIO, México D.F.
  5. ^ Hooker, William Jackson & Arnott, George Arnott Walker. 1840. Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage 427, Bouvardia tolucana
  6. ^ Cavanilles, Antonio José. 1797. Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum 4: 3, pl. 305, Ixora ternifolia
  7. ^ Schlechtendal, Diederich Franz Leonhard von. 1854. Linnaea 26: 98. Bouvardia ternifolia
  8. ^ Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas, Native Plant Database, Bouvardia ternifolia
  9. ^ Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas i–xv, 1–1881. The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson.
  10. ^ Davidse, G., M. Sousa Sánchez, S. Knapp & F. Chiang Cabrera. 2012. Rubiaceae a Verbenaceae. 4(2): i–xvi, 1–533. In G. Davidse, M. Sousa Sánchez, S. Knapp & F. Chiang Cabrera (eds.) Flora Mesoamericana Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
  11. ^ Schlechtendal, Diederich Franz Leonhard von
  12. ^ Bailey, L.H. & E.Z. Bailey. 1976. Hortus Third i–xiv, 1–1290. MacMillan, New York.
  13. ^ color illustration of Bouvardia houtteana (syn of Bouvardia ternifolia), published 1855
  14. ^ Schlechtendal, Diederich Franz Leonhard von, in Planchon, Jules Émile. 1855. Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe 10: 149, t. 55.
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