''Chaenostoma cordatum'', also known as ''Sutera cordata'', ''Bacopa cordata'', ''Sutera diffusus'', Pikmin flower, or Bacopa (not the genus ''Bacopa''), is one of 52 species in the genus ''Chaenostoma'' ( Scrophulariaceae), and is native to South Africa.

Taxonomy

''Chaenostoma cordatum'' was first named in 1835 by Sir William Jackson Hooker. The synonym ''Sutera cordata'' originated from

Otto Kuntze Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (23 June 1843 – 27 January 1907) was a German botanist. Biography Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig. An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled ''Pocket Fauna of Leipzig''. Between 1863 and 1866 he ...

in 1891.

Distribution and habitat

''Chaenostoma cordatum'' lives predominately on the southern coast of South Africa, where it had originated.

Cultivation

''Chaenostoma cordatum'' is a short-lived evergreen perennial for zones 9-11. It grows annually in colder climates, but requires full sun to flower profusely. Cultivars include 'Bridal Showers', 'Snowflake', 'Giant Snowflake', and 'Pink Domino'.

The Pikmin Flower

A new cultivar of Bacopa, trademarked Bacopa 'Cabana®' in a collaboration between Nintendo of America and

Syngenta Syngenta AG is a provider of agricultural science and technology, in particular seeds and pesticides with its management headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It is owned by ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Syngenta was founded in 2 ...

Seed's Flower Brand, was the subject of a marketing campaign for the 2001 video game '' Pikmin''. The name "Pikmin Flower" was coined in this campaign, due to the resemblance of the flowers that bloom from the heads of fully matured Pikmin species in the video games. While some claims reported Bacopa 'Cabana®' as an entirely new species or subspecies created by Nintendo, the plant is actually a

selectively bred Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant mal ...

cultivar of the existing species, emphasizing specific traits for ornamental purposes. Peter Main, then executive vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo of America, said that the flower "demonstrates that at the core of Nintendo is creativity". In April 2002, seeds of the flower were released to the public.

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