Winged Beauty

Description:

Winged Beauty, Costa Rican Butterfly Vine, is a vine in the Euphorbia family. The spurge family is well known for the poinsettia and other showy euphorbias, but not for its unusual vines. It has slender, somewhat hairy stems, climbing to 10-20’. Set along these are large, nearly heart-shaped, toothed leaves. The more dramatic feature, however, is the flowering shoots. Each has a pair of broad, pointed, reddish purple bracts, 2-3” long, widely spreading above and below the clustered small, whitish flowers. Outstanding sized bracts with an eye-catching show of color characterize this vigorous growing vine. With a crepe-paper-type texture, violet pink bracts oppose each other in an open flat bloom, often reaching 5" in width.

Habitat:

Found in the gardens of the Getty Museum, Los Angeles.