''Pachystachys'' is a
genus of 12 species of
flowering plants in the
family Acanthaceae,
native to rainforest in the Caribbean and Central and South America. They are
evergreen perennials and
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
s bearing prominent terminal spikes of flowers with brightly coloured
bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...
s.
The name ''Pachystachys'' comes from the Greek for "thick spike", referring to the flower heads.
The genus is closely related to ''
Justicia''.
The species ''P. coccinea'', ''P. lutea'' and ''P. spicata'' are found in cultivation. They can be grown outside in
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
gardens in areas where the temperature does not fall below . Elsewhere, they can be grown under glass or as
houseplants.
List of species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2603828
Acanthaceae
Acanthaceae genera