Flower and exhibitions - South China Botanical Garden, Guangzhou attractions, China

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Jatropha pandurifolia

Jatropha pandurifolia (Jatropha pandurifoliaAndrews), Euphorbiaceae. A shrub with small flowers surrounded by bright red bracts. Evergreen shrubs, 1-1.5m tall, with lactescence. Leaves simple, alternative, oblanceolate, often fascicled on the terminal of stems. Flowers arranged in cymes, unisexual, monoecious, central flowers female, lateral 4-6 male, female flowers bloom early than male ones in each cyme; petals 5, rose or pink. Its Cherry-Blossom-like flowers are very small, but the flowering period is very long and almost in all the year. It is called "Ri Ri Ying", that the Chinese name means "Every-day-flowered Cherry Blossom". Distributed in West Indies.

Butea monosperma

Parrot Tree (Butea monosperma(Lam.) Kuntze), Papilionaceae. Deciduous tree, to 10-20m tall, DBH ca. 30cm. Leaflets 3, coriaceous, terminal one is larger than the lateral ones. Corolla orange-red and then yellow with ages. Flowering in March and April, fruiting in October.Parrot tree has important economic utilization. Its bark, flowers and seeds can be made into astringent, dye, and pesticide, respectively.

Grammatophyllum speciosum

Giant orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosumBlume), Orchidaceae. Perennial herbs. It is native to the rainforest of New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia, growing in crotches of large trees or attaching on rocks. It has plenty of hard and hooked aerial roots, which can hitch some small animals and insects for nutrients. Giant orchid is the biggest known orchids in the world and can weight to 2 tons. It blooms once every two years. Its flowering petals have maroon spots, resembling tiger' stripes. The inflorescence can grow to 2 m long, bearing up to 300 flowers.

Each raceme can grow to a height of 3m, bearing up to eighty flowers, each 10 cm wide. The flowers are yellow colored with maroon or dark red spots. These flowers are remarkable, since the lowest flowers have no lip. It blooms only once every two to four years. This orchid can, however, remain in bloom for up to two months. Because of its enormous size, it is rarely cultivated.

Opuntia tuna

Elephantear prickly pear (Opuntia tuna(Linn.) Miller),Cactaceae. Native to Latin America and Mediterranean region. A perennial succulent herb.It has flat, fleshy pads that look like large leaves. The pads are actually modified branches or stems that serve several functions -- water storage, photosynthesis and flower production. Leaves retrogress into spines, whitish and 1-2 cm long. The fruits are edible berries and branches (the pads) are eaten as a vegetable.