Another Chilean climber

Today it's the turn of another Chilean climber in the family Gesneriaceae, the African violet family.

Mitraria coccinea comes from temperate Chile in the same locations as Asteranthera ovata, which was my Blip on 30th June. I have these climbers growing on trees on opposite sides of the path at Arduaine and someone once commented that the two colours were not entirely complementary! While I was in Chile back in 2005 I thought it would be useful to see where they both grew, and to my surprise I found that they climbed the same trees and flowered at the same time! So who says that nature's colours never clash!

Mitraria coccinea is more woody than Asteranthera ovata and can reach considerable heights on mossy tree trunks, clinging by aerial roots. Both of these climbers can be propagated by rooting the leaves, just as is possible with African violets. These flowers are about 3cm long.