One more example of the treachery of identifying plants by online images. Today’s photo in Botany Photo of the Day is of Origanum ‘Barbara Tingey’. But the image looked hauntingly like the shrimp plant we have growing in front of our porch.
I know the shrimp plant as Beloperone guttata from the tropical plant books I have on hand. The B. guttata designation is a synonym for Justicia brandegeana Wasshausen & L. B. Smith. I was very surprised to see an ornamental oregano plant looking, at first, like a near relative to the shrimp plant. On closer examination I saw that both the flowers and the leaves are greatly different. It was the bract arrangement that had me fooled.
The shrimp plant bracts are a deep scarlet color, more the color of cooked lobsters than of cooked shrimp, but the shape of the bract arrangement is definitely a shrimp shape. The bracts on the ornamental oregano are more parchment-like and nearly transparent. They’re enjoyed as dried flowers.
The ornamental oregano is in the Lamiaceae, or mint, family. They’re native to Mediterranean countries. The shrimp plant is in the Acanthaceae, or Acanthus, family. It’s native to Mexico and Brazil.
Think, convergent evolution. And chalk up another learning experience!
An interesting note, as we both know well–the shrimp plant is a favorite of at least one species of hummingbird here in Chiriquí.