Accession Data

Whitfieldia elongata

Common Name: White Candles

Family: Acanthaceae

Country of Origin: tropical Africa

Uses: African tribes have incorporated this plant not only for medicinal purposes but also in the name of love. This is an important ingredient in love potions, skin diseases, and snake bites3.

The leaves yield a black dye.4

Accession Data

USDA Zone: 10a-11

Accession #: 201200026

Accession Date: 2012-03-29 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🪴 Not Flowering

Location: 1113

Quantity: 3

Source: Kartuz Greenhouses

Culture: bright shade, warm temps, min temp 55, uniform moisture, rich soil

Classification

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Subclass: euasterid I

Order: Lamiales

Family: Acanthaceae

SubFamily: Acanthoideae

Tribe: Whitfieldieae

Flowering Data:

This accession has been observed in bloom on:
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012

References

  1. The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed Tuesday, 13 November, 2018.
  2. Whitfieldia elongata at Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Last accessed on Tuesday, 13 November, 2018.
  3. M. Iwu, Maurice. Handbook of African Medicinal Plants. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1993.
  4. Whitfieldia elongata at Useful Tropical Plants. Last accessed Tuesday, 13 November, 2018.
  5. Image #00 (cropped) & #01 (original) by Michael Wolf [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons. Last accessed Tuesday, 13 November, 2018.

Images

Whitfieldia elongata
Whitfieldia elongata