Barleria oenotheroides.
It is often sold as Barleria micans which is much easier to pronounce.
The Yellow Barleria or Giant Yellow Shrimp plant is only occasionally seen in cultivation.
They are evergreen shrubs or subshrubs up to 1.5 m high and 1 m wide.
They have a woody base and the young stems are covered in yellowish hairs.
Branching at ground level they will root at the nodes where stems touch the ground.
The elliptic to narrowly ovate leaves are opposite and decussate.
They are mostly around 12 to 15 (20) cm long.
The tip is pointed and the edge is smooth.
The wedge-shaped base forms short wings on the petiole.
The upper surface is dark green and the lower surface is paler.
The veins are prominent especially on the lower surface.
There are short simple hairs on the upper surface and along the veins on the lower.
The hairs on the stem, petiole and blade all lie flat along the surface and point to the top
of the stem or tip of the leaf respectively.
Terminal inflorescences are dense erect spikes around 6 to 8 cm long.
Single flowers are arranged in the same pattern as the leaves.
Each flower has paired bracts and bracteoles at the base.
The ovate bracts are around 2.5 cm long and 1.25 cm wide.
They are pale green with a spiny pointed tip and prominent veins.
The edge has very small teeth with a long hair or bristle on the tip of each.
The inner surface is smooth while the outer has simple hairs that point towards the tip of the bract.
The 2 linear bracteoles are around 1.5 cm long with hairs on the outer surface.
The bilaterally symmetric funnel-shaped flowers are 4 to 5 cm long.
The petal bases are fused to form a corolla tube with the lobes in 2 lips.
The 4 lobes in the upper lip are erect and the single lower lobe projects forwards.
The upper pair is oblong and the lateral two are ovate and slightly larger.
The ovate lower lobe is the largest.
The corolla is a bright yellow with no markings.
The 2 stamens, on straight yellow filaments lie close together along the lower lip.
The darker yellow anthers lie at the end of the lip.
The 2 pollen sacs open inwards through long slits.
The superior ovary has 2 locules each with 2 ovules.
The slender style lies along the lower lip with its small green stigma between the anthers.
The fruit are loculicidal capsules with up to 4 black nodular seeds.
The seeds have a retinaculum or jaculator to eject them away from the plant.
J.F.
