Monkey brush vine - Combretum rotundifolium

Common Name :	Monkey brush vine.
Botanical Name :	Combretum rotundifolium
Family :	Combretaceae
Photo Taken :	Bangladesh

Not sure why this plant is known as Monkey brush vine. The name brush seems meaningful, but the portion monkey is unsure! Binomial name of the plant is Combretum rotundifolium and belongs to the plant family Combretaceae. This is native to South American region and found in wild. We do not have any authentic Bengali name for this one.

This is an evergreen woody climber vine plant but can be grown as a shrub if trimmed properly. This can be put over a fence, wall, or another tree for its vine nature. This is a medium grower and prefer full or partial sunlight. Leafs are elliptic, slightly bended, and oppositely arranged. Leafs are veined.

Monkey bush vine (Combretum rotundifolium) flowers are too much showy and attractive. The color of the flower is red, orange-red (actually multicolored). That's why it looks like a fire on the vine during blooming season (spring and summer).

Monkey bush vine (Combretum rotundifolium) flowers are cluster flower. Combining of few powder puff flowers around a long stalk will make this flower. From the small red flower of the cluster it produces a lot of long multicolored stamens which forms a shape of a brush. Hence such name Monkey brush. Flower hold nectar that attracts insects and small birds like hamming bird. It doesn't have any fragrance.

Photos of Monkey brush vine (Combretum rotundifolium) were taken from Banani, Dhaka. It was the month of April 2015. This plant was on a wall of the building on a roadside.


This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icflora.blogspot.com/