Isoplexis canariensis (Cresta de gallo)

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Asterids > Euasterid I > Order: Lamiales > Family: Plantaginaceae

Isoplexis canariensis (Cresta de gallo), Canary Islands. [photo Candelaria Rodríguez ©]

A perennial shrub that grows up to 2 m tall and which is native to the Canary Islands where it occurs mainly in the laurel forest on the island of Tenerife, although it has also been recorded from the islands of La Gomera and La Palma. It is also grown as an ornamental plant and is cultivated in southern Africa. It has large, showy, orange coloured flowers that in its native distribution are pollinated by passerine birds.

References

• Rodríguez-Rodríguez, M.C. and Valido, A. 2008. Opportunistic nectar-feeding birds are effective pollinators of bird-flowers from Canary Islands: experimental evidence from Isoplexis canariensis (Scrophulariaceae). American Journal of Botany 95(11): 1408-1415.