Spanish Shawl

Today we’re back to plant profiles and I want to talk about Spanish Shawl or Centradenia floribunda (I think..read on!). Its flowers are a shocking fluorescent purple (is fluorescent purple even a thing?) - a bright fuchsia/magenta colour which contrasts (somewhat horrendously) with its bronze foliage. Not a colour combination I would have picked, but the absolute abundance of flowers (hence the species name!) makes up for it because the leaves fade into the background.

It is in the same family as Tibouchina (Melastomataceae) which is quite evident when you look at the form of the flowers - although Spanish Shawl flowers are roughly the size of a 20 cent piece and the plant is only about 30cm high and the Tibouchinas most people are familiar with are much larger and uhh more tree size…(although there are shrubbier species).

The more research I do the more confused I become - ‘Spanish Shawl’ seems to refer to both Centradenia floribunda, C. inaequilateralis and Heterocentron elegans and while some sources suggest they’re synonyms, some imply they’re different (although very closely related). Nevertheless the difference is immaterial as they all look much of a muchness and will be perfect if you’re after an excellent, fast growing, shockingly coloured, low sprawling shrub that loves full sun and a dry area. Various cultivars are slightly taller or wider, or even different shades of foliage and flowers and although I am usually a stickler for correct identification, this is just a beautiful little ornamental and they’ll all do the same thing. Keep your eyes out for one. They’re available at nurseries and also easy to propagate via cutting so you might just find one at a garden club like I did!