Strobilanthes dyeriana

Strobilanthes dyeriana, the Persian shield or royal purple plant,^[1] is a species of flowering plant in the acanthus family Acanthaceae, native to Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Strobilanthes dyeriana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Acanthaceae
Genus:	Strobilanthes
Species:	S. dyeriana
Binomial name
Strobilanthes dyeriana Mast.

Name

The Latin specific epithet dyeriana honours the English botanist Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928).^[2]

Description

Growing to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and broad, it is a tropical evergreen shrub, cultivated for its dark green foliage with bright, metallic-purple stripes radiating outward from the central leaf vein. In proper conditions, it will also produce pale purple flowers.

Cultivation

With a minimum temperature of 10 °C (50 °F), S. dyeriana grows best in USDA Zones 10–11.^[3] In more temperate climates it is grown as a houseplant. It prefers a warm, humid position in good light. As the intense purple colour may fade with age, it is often treated as an annual.^[3] In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[1][4] S. dyeriana is sold as a very common landscape plant due to its vibrant colors. In order to produce a high quality version of this plant, it is best to use a 200 mg*L-1*N from a complete fertilizer.^[5]