White, pink, blue or lilac flower
A small, soft herb and groundcover plant to 30 cm in complex microphyll closed forest. Found from Bateman’s Bay, south-east NSW to Cape York, North Queensland, NT and Papua New Guinea. Hairy branches and creeping rhizome. Leaves dark green, opposite, hairy above, purplish and dotted with glands below, narrow, lanceolate to oval, tip blunt or sharp, base rounded or wedge-shaped. Groups of 3-5 white, pink, blue or lilac flower – summer to spring. Fruit a hairy capsule to 1.5 cm long. Makes an ideal groundcover, which will spread in a lightly shaded garden, very attractive when in flower. Cuttings of roots or stems strike readily, or self seeded plantlets can be potted up. A good substitute for the many weedy Acanthaceae. Flowers on terminal spikes from spring to autumn. Will self seed readily in garden or into pot plants. Flower sprays are eaten by Bearded Dragon lizards. Love Flower supports a number of butterflies, including Australian Leafwing, Varied Eggfly, Danaid Eggfly, Blue-banded Eggfly and Blue Argus.
Photo: Robert Whyte
Photo: Dick Harding
Seed collecting and propagation
Fruit a hairy capsule to 1.5 cm long. Cuttings of roots or stems are successful, or self-seeded plantlets can be collected.
Varied Eggfly. Photo: Mark Crocker
