Flame Acanthus | Anisacanthus

Pollinators can be found throughout the day.

Hummingbird bush, flame acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii) begins blooming in late June through October and is used in dry, sunny climates of the southwestern United States and is beneficial to wildlife and insects.

My west fence row is covered with flame acanthus, turk's cap and further back, in the shade, abelia (for scent and pollinators). The hummingbirds visits the red flowers at about 8:00 - 11:30 every day. The shrub receives morning sun. They are semi-deciduous in hardiness zone 7b/8a.  They lose the majority of their leaves in the winter, but not all the way to te ground. I do not cut back any branches until it has leafed out in the spring. 

I use wire fencing to keep it upright. I use a second wire fence to support the turk's cap, used as a bedding plant lining the front of the flame acanthus. This provides a va-va-voom of red flowers along the fence row in the summer and fall. The flame acanthus is included in TAMU Earth Kind Plant Selector.

Pollinators can be found throughout the day.

Hummingbird bush, flame acanthus

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii

Sulfur butterfly

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   Hummingbird bush, flame acanthus 

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii

                                                      

The hummingbird bush flower ceases budding in mid-October and completes it's life cycle by  going to seed.  The fruit is an ovoid capsule containing two to four large flat seeds. The dispersal of seeds is by the wind.  Several plants have propagated in situ at the the base of the current plantings.

As the dehiscent capsule seed pod dries it pops open, revealing two flat, disc-shaped seeds.

hummingbird bush
ID seeds

Bibliography____________________________________

Hagen, Stanley H. "A Revision of the North American Species of the Genus Anisacanthus." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 28 (1941): 385-408. Print.

HENRICKSON, JAMES. "Anisacanthus Quadrifidus Sensu Lato (acanthaceae)."Sida, Contributions to Botany. 11.3 (1986): 286-299. Print.

McCaffrey, Rachel E, and Susan M. Wethington. "How the Presence of Feeders Affects the Use of Local Floral Resources by Hummingbirds: a Case Study from Southern Arizona." The Condor. 110.4 (2008): 786-791. Print.

Anisacanthus Quadrifidus Var. Wrightii (cultivated). , 2011. Available electronically from http : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /99331.

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