Candle Plant
Pachystachys lutea
Also known as Golden Shrimp Plant, Lollipop Plant, Yellow Shrimp Plant
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- October-June
How to identify Candle Plant
Identify Candle Plant by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a shrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Golden-yellow bracts with white flowers (golden shrimp plant).
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Raceme.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: October-June.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Pachystachys lutea
- Genus
- Pachystachys
- Family
- Acanthaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Native to
- South America
- Found in India
- Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Assam, Goa, Mizoram, Puducherry, Telangana
- Flowering & fruiting
- October-June
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Opposite
Characters marked “recorded” are for Candle Plant itself; the rest are typical of the Acanthaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
- Flower arrangement
- RacemerecordedIndividual stalked flowers arranged along a central stem, opening from bottom to top.“The zygomorphic, long-throated, short-lived white flowers emerge sequentially from overlapping bright yellow bracts on racemes that are produced throughout the warm months.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Candle Plant itself; the rest are typical of the Acanthaceae family — flowering plants only.
About Candle Plant
Candle plant (Pachystachys lutea) belongs to the Acanthaceae family, where it grows as a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and 9 other states. Flowering and fruiting run from October to June.
Acanthaceae
Acanthus family
Candle Plant belongs to the Acanthaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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