Botanical name: Mussaenda roxburghii    Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)

East Himalayan Mussaenda is a shrub up to 3 m tall, with stem usually hairy above. Leaves are elliptic-oblong-lanceshaped, long-pointed, bristly hairy on midrib beneath, short-stalked. Stipules are triangular-lanceshaped. Flowers are borne in dense clusters about 5 cm across, at branch ends. Sepals are 5, threadlike, hairy. One sepal is often enlarged into a white inverted-lanceshaped, stalked "leaf". Flower-tube is narrow, 3-3.5 cm long, silky. Petals are bright orange inside, white outside, with threadlike tips. Berries are oblong-ellipsoid, smooth, crowned with the sepals. East Himalayan Mussaenda is found in East Himalayas, from C. Nepal to Bhutan, Assam and Burma, at altitudes up to 1600 m. In the Karbi community of Assam, the leaves of this plant, locally called Voso Piban, are used in cooking chicken with powdered rice. Flowering: May-August.

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The flower labeled East Himalayan Mussaenda is ...