Before landing in Colombia I had no idea of the vast varieties of the Melastomataceae family of plants. For me what I did recognise from the family were some very beautiful plants. One of my favourite of all plants is the Tibouchina 'Alstonville' from the same family.
On the streets of Bogota I had noticed a very showy plant, with shiny large leaves, which had all the signs of a Melastomataceae family tree. It had the typical 4 sided stem, prominent veins in the leaves and the typical stamens of the family. Also it had the typical purple colour of the flowers from those other plants from the family that I knew.
While the majority of the street trees of this plant were purple, there was also a strawberry coloured flower noted in a few locations, like the gardens beside the mint in Bogota.
All of the photos taken from this post were taken in Bogota Botanical gardens which have a large collection of Melastomas
Post by Paul Mundweil http://www.goldcoastlandscapegardening.com.au/
