This plant is a shrub, reaching up to 4 m high. The leaves are hairy, heart-shaped, and pointed, 7-20 x 6-17 cm. The flower colors are variable, ranging from bright red to orange or rarely white and bunched together in clusters 45 x 25 cm. The fruit is also bright red, but turns dark purple or black when ripe, with four deep creases separating the fleshy lobes, each containing a single seed.
(Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)
The genus Clerodendron is native to Java and Fiji eastward to the Society Islands and Micronesia. The native range of Clerodendron buchananii var. fallax is Malesia and eastward possibly to the Society Islands. It is widely cultivated and sometimes naturalized on various Pacific islands.
This plant is potentially invasive, spread by sucker or seeds eaten by birds.
We currently have 8 herbarium specimens for Clerodendrum buchananiiDONOTUSE var. fallax in our collection. Click on any specimen below to view the herbarium sheet data.
