Tube dimensions : (25 to) 30-60 (to 70)mm long x 1.5-3mm wide and slightly bulbous at the base, gradually widened above until 4-7 (to 10)mm wide at the rim
Sepal color upper : pale pink to bright scarlet, rarely pale white
Sepal color lower :
Sepal shape : lanceolate
Sepal tips : acuminate, apiculate in bud, initially spreading at anthesis, but soon becoming totally reflexed
Sepal dimensions : 10-20mm long x 4-5mm wide
Corolla opening color : scarlet
Corolla mature color :
Corolla shape : acute at the apex, more or less crispate with two to three longitudinal ridges, oblong to elliptic, upper petals recurved at anthesis, drying and dehiscing before the tube does
Corolla silhouette :
Petal margins :
Corolla dimensions : 8-16 (to 20)mm long x 3-7 (to 9)mm wide
Nectary : quadri-lobed, green, 2-3mm high
Stamens :
Filaments : red, 8-15mm x 5-10mm long
Anthers : oblong, 2-3.5mm long x 1-1.5mm wide, white
Pistil :
Style : slender, pilose from the base to the rim of the tube
Stigma : capitate or clavate, subtetragonous, shallowly quadri-lobed at the apex, 2.5-3mm long x 3-5mm wide, cream, situated at the level of the antesepalous anthers or barely exserted beyond them
MISCELLANEOUS
Flower :
Flowers : numerous in terminal, drooping racemes or few-branched panicles, the flowers congested near the tips, rachis 5 to 30 cm long in flower, 15 to 40 (to 60) cm long in fruit, bracts lanceolate, reflexed, 5 to 25 mm long, 2-8 mm wide
Flower size :
Flower display :
Flower bud :
Fruit : cylindrical, 10-26mm long x 8-14mm wide, dark purple, strigose, comestible
Seed : tan, 1.3-2mm long x 0.5-1mm wide
Habit : erect or bushy shrub or small tree with arching-pendulous branches, young growth is usually densely canescent with fine grey-white hairs
Hardiness:
Height : 2-4 m, rarely to 6 m
Light/Climate : cool, subtropical climate, hardy to -4°C for short periods, require protction from direct sun and temperatures exceeding 40°C
Optimal light conditions : shade or part-shade
Remarks : large drooping corymbs up to 20 cm long,, individual flowers 3-7 cm long, flowers late summer and autumn, F. boliviana is widely naturalized in Colombia and Venezuela, as well as elsewhere outside South America in tropical and sub-tropical regions, having escaped from cultivation in Central America to Mexico, Jamaica, Hawaii, Reunion Island and India. This is likely because it stays in flower much of the year, self pollinates, reproduces by shoots, and tolerates much drier and harsher conditions than many other members of the genus
Named : named after Bolivia
Lookalikes :
Year (of first description) : 1876
Botanist : Carriere
Authors : Carrière 1877
Original publication : Rev. Hort. 48: 150 1876
Habitat : the probable native range of this species extends from northern Argentina to southern Peru in moist thickets in cloud forest
Elevation : 600-3000
Native country : Mexico to South America (Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina)
Synonyms : F. boliviana var. boliviana, Carrière 1877, F. boliviana var. luxurians, Johnston 1925
Gametic chromosome number n = 11
FOLIAGE
Leaves : opposite, ternate, or sometimes alternate near the uppermost branching nodes, softly membranous, petioles pubescent, 2 to 5 (to 7) cm long, stipules dark, narrowly lanceolate, 0.5 to 1.5 mm long, about 0.3 mm wide, deciduous
Foliage color upper side : medium to dark matte green and pubescent to subglabrous
Foliage color lower side : pale green and ashy puberulent to densely canescent especially along the nerves
Leaf dimensions : 5-20(-23)cm long x 3-12(-15)cm wide
Leaf shape : narrowly to broadly elliptic or ovate
Leaf margin : glandular-denticulate
Leaf tip : acute to acuminate
Leaf base : acute to rounded
Pubescence : yes
Veins : secondary veins (12 to)15 to 25 on either side of the midvein, more or less impressed above, prominent and often reddish below
Stems :
Branches : terminal shoots are 2 to 4 mm thick, terete to angled, older stems are woody, usually hollow, 1 to 6 cm thick, and exhibit tan-brown splitting bark
