PlantSnap Photos of the Week 2020

Psychotria elata -- hooker's lips plant

This plant is a photo of a plant called Psychotria elata — hooker’s lips plant.

Palicourea elata, commonly known as hot lips, is a tropical plant that ranges from Central to South American rain forests in countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Colombia.

Palicourea elata is extremely sensitive and requires specific climates to grow, those climates most like rainforests are best suitable for this plant. It is most notable for its distinctly shaped red bracts and is consequently nicknamed “Hot Lips”.

Though the bright red bracts are considered its most flashy feature, they are not the actual flowers of the plant but instead extravagant leaves; the flowers of Palicourea elata lie within the “red lip” leaves. Just like human lips, the hot lips plant comes in a variety of shapes and forms offering a vast array of plants.

P. elata is well-studied and has been documented over centuries to provide various health benefits to native communities. Due to these benefits and the overall appearance of the plant, it has been over-harvested and is now endangered.

P. elata can be described as a shrub that is part of the Rubiaceae family, also commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. The Rubiaceae family is recognizable for having simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules and can come in the form of terrestrial trees, herbs, lianas, or shrubs like P. elata.

This plant will typically be found in the understory layer of rain forests. This species can grow from 1 to 3 meters, occasionally reaching 4 meters in height. The plant’s morphology can be quite variable as it is directly affected by the neighborhood structure of nearby plants, and overall light availability that the plant has access to.

These variables, as well as the general resources available to the plant, have been shown to effect the biomechanics, allometry, and branching of P. elata, which, in turn, can effect height and leaf count.

The most distinctive features of P. elata are its red bracts, a modified set of leaves. Before its flowers bloom, the bracts resemble a pair of human lips. The flowers of P. elata bloom from December to March and can be described as small, star-shaped flowers.

P. elata is part of the genus Palicoura, and, as many plants of this genus, does not give off a scent. Due to the undetectable scent, the plant relies on its shape alone to attract pollinators, such as butterflies and hummingbirds.

Once pollinization and fertilization occurs, P. elata produces small black or dark blue berries. These berries are then distributed via birds; a common mechanism that plants of the Palicoura genus use.

The bark and leaves of P. elata are commonly used as folk medicine to cure earaches, cough, and skin irritation or rashes. The Guna people native to Panama and Colombia have habitually used this flower to treat dyspnea.

In Nicaraguan communities, the plant has been used to help with the side effects from snake bites; all parts of the plant have been known to be used for this purpose. For medicinal uses, the desired parts of the plant are made into either a decoction for oral administration or as a poultice for topical administration.

The plant can offer a psychedelic effect that can potentially be used medically, but is mostly used in ceremonies in native communities. Typically, the plant will be harvested in a secondary growth forest.

There has been little research done and even less medical research done on Palicourea elata. Most of the data found on the plant is anecdotal evidence from native populations that has been tested to see if applicable in some way, such as with the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties the plant contains. There is still much research to be done to determine the clinical uses of the plant.

This PlantSnap Photos of the Week image gallery contains images captured by PlantSnappers from all around the world.

Each of these images have been chosen in the past as the PlantSnap Photo of the Week.

Each week, the new PlantSnap Photo of the Week will be added to this gallery.