Purple Aesthetic

Introduction :   The genus Gynura belongs to the family Compositae, comprises more than 50 species of perennial herbs and subshrubs, and is native to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Among the cultivated species, G. aurantiaca is particularly favored as an ornamental foliage plant because its leaves are gener-ously covered with numerous tiny, vivid purple hairs that give the plant a rich, colorful glow. Thus, G. aurantiaca is commonly known as purple passion or purple velvet plant. Purple passion is easily grown from cuttings and commonly used as a hanging-basket or containerized plant. In addition, the plant’s unusual coloring often makes it well suited for adding a bright note to combination planters.   Generally, scented flowers can be a bonus with most plants, but the yellowish flowers of purple passion have a scent that is obnoxious or malodorous enough to be offensive. Addi-tionally, they grow very fast under appropriate light condi-tions if watered properly and fertilized re