Cigar Flower

‘David Verity’ is a hybrid cuphea (possibly C. ignea x C. micropetala) that is particularly noted for its long floriferous bloom of unusual cigar-shaped flowers. It is a rounded, densely branched, bushy sub-shrub that grows 20-30” tall and as wide. Where winter hardy, plants feature evergreen foliage and will grow to 3-4’ (less frequently 5’) tall. Tubular, bright reddish-orange flowers (to 1.25” long) bloom singly in the leaf axils from late spring to frost along stems crowded with pointed, lance-shaped to ovate, olive green leaves (to 1 1/2” long). Each flower consists of a narrow, tubular, reddish-orange calyx (no corolla) tipped with yellow. Flowers are suggestive of a lit cigar or firecracker hence the sometimes used common names of cigar flower or firecracker plant. Flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. Although hybrid, ‘David Verity’ is often sold by nurseries as a cultivar of Cuphea ignea. Genus name comes from the Greek word kyphos (curved) in reference to the shape of its seed pods.