Cuphea lanceolata ‘Purple Passion’ flowers on 7-4-12, #108-4.

Lythraceae J.St-Hil.

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OR
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The plant family Lythraceae was named and described by Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire in Exposition des Familles Naturelles in 1805.

As of 12-2-21 when this page was last updated, Plants of the World Online lists 28 accepted genera in this family.  

I don’t have much experience with members of this family, just two species of Cuphea. You can click on the plant names under the photo (below) to go to their own pages.

For more information about this family of plants, please click on the links below. The links take you directly to the information about the family.

PLANTS OF THE WORLD ONLINE
WIKIPEDIA

Cuphea hyssopifolia (Mexican Heather) on 8-7-09, #27-45.

I brought my Cuphea hyssopifolia (Mexican Heather) home from Lowe’s in the spring of 2009 when I lived in Mississippi. It did very well in 2009 but only fairly well in 2010. I don’t think it came up in 2011. It may have performed better in more sun. The Mexican Heather is a nice-looking plant with ferny-looking leaves. It flowers all along the stem.

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Cuphea lanceolata ‘Purple Passion’ (Cigar Flower) on 10-11-12, #121-5.

I bought seeds of the Cuphea lanceolata ‘Purple Passion’ from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in the spring of 2012 when I lived in Mississippi. They germinated very well and I had enough to transplant along the brick sidewalk going through the garden in the backyard, in the bed on the west side of the garden, and in the bed along the west sunroom. The plants grow at least 2′ tall and they prefer to be allowed to meander through the other plants. The stems are multi-branching, so soon, if you allow them to do as they please, it will look like you have a mass planting. The flowers of ‘Purple Passion’ are dark purple. They have 6 petals, 2 are large and 4 are small. The two larger petals look like ears. The stems and leaves feel sticky and will stick to each other and to other plants.

These were great plants and very entertaining to grow. I haven’t tried them since I moved back to Missouri…