Lipstick bro

This is a Lipstick bromeliad. If you look closely at the middle you will see two tiny purple flowers. In full bloom the entire cup will be filled with these purple flowers. I think the plant alone is pretty and I have lots of them in my garden. Some, like this one, are in full shade under an oak tree. Others are in full sun. The ones in shade have darker leaves than the ones in full sun. Also, look closely at the edges of the leaves of this plant. That scalloping is just what it looks like; saw teeth that can rip your skin open.

As most of you know, I take all of these pictures with my iPhone, but as a bonus today I’m including a close-up of the inside of a Lipstick bromeliad cup. I did not take this picture but I copied it from Google.

Isn’t that a tempting place to want to visit? Can’t you just imagine yourself as a small elf trying to scale down the leaves to get this kind of close-up view? No? Well, surely you can imagine bending over and getting your face as close as you can to get a better view. That’s where the rub comes in. As attractive as this plant is on the outside and the inside, if you get too close, you are going to bleed.




Have a great weekend and be careful around lipsticks, both on plants and people.