Justicia brandegeeana (Red shrimp)

Shrimp plant is native to Mexico. It has become naturalized on the Florida penninsula. Many cultivars are available.

Plants: Shrimp plants are evergreen shrubs 3–5′ (1–1.5 m) tall and up to 3′ (1 m) wide.

Flowers: Branches are topped by red “flowers” that are really bracts—modified leaves. These have a shape and texture suggestive of shrimp, hence the common name. They are about 6″ (15 cm) long and initially white, becoming rusty red, pinkish red, pale pink, deep salmon, orange(-ish), pink-bronze, or brownish red—accounts obviously vary. (Cultivars appear in other colors as well.) The bracts grow in segments like sections of shrimp shells, sometimes reaching as much as a foot in length. The real flowers are white, tubular, with throats containing deep red speckles. They are fairly inconspicuous.

4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm)

4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm)

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Lamiales	Aromatic herbs and shrubs, including lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, ash, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, mint, basil, and rosemary
Family	Acanthaceae	Acanthus family, of tropical herbs and shrubs
Genus	Justicia	Named for James Justice, a Scottish horticulturist
Species	brandegeeana	For the American botanist Townshend Stith Brandegee (1843–1925)

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Range: Zones 9-11:

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