Hamelia patens
species of plant
Hamelia patens is a large evergreen perennial shrub or small tree in the family Rubiaceae, that is native to the American subtropics and tropics. Its range extends from Florida in the southern United States to as far south as Argentina. Common names include firebush, hummingbird bush, scarlet bush, and redhead. In Belize, this plant's Mayan name is Ix Canaan and is also known as "Guardian of the Forest".
Growth
Firebush has orangish-red tubular flowers, which recruit hummingbirds and butterflies for pollination. The corollas vary greatly in length, making them attractive to a wide range of pollinators. The fruit is a small dark red berry, turning black at maturity.
Despite its somewhat scraggy appearance, this is a valuable garden tree in warmer climates and even in temperate ones, as long as the soil remains above freezing.
Uses
Hummingbirds are attracted by its flowers and other birds feed on the fruit, both of which will also forage on small insects found in the vicinity, helping to keep down pests. These flowers are also fed on by butterflies, such as the statira sulphur (Aphrissa statira), which are attracted to red flowering plants.
“Hamelia patens” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hamelia, patens and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Hamelia patens” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Hamelia, patens and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4919655. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hamelia patens” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.