Plant of the day is: Rosenbergiodendron longiflorum or angel of the night

Plant of the day is: Rosenbergiodendron longiflorum or angel of the night

Credit to Rafael Moricete Jr.: New York Botanical Garden

This is a tropical plant, because lets face it, I can't do an alpine every day.

A note:  This seems to be the more widely accepted name BUT you can find much more information on it's synonymous name Randia ruiziana, so hunt there if you pursue further.

It is a fan of lower sited areas around rivers/streams and the like and is situated roughly around the country of Bolivia.  It reportedly makes for a good houseplant if you can keep it happy.  It has white flowers with 5 petals that are a bit pointed and reflexed.  If you are keeping it indoors, it flowers on "old wood" which means that the flower buds are formed before winter sets in so DON'T prune until after the plant has flowered.  Flowers in the winter, just when you need a pick me up!

They are supposed to have extremely fragrant flowers, so much so that you can dry flowers on a piece of paper and the smell will stick around for days.  Neat!  It will grow to about 2-3 feet (I can confirm that) in a container and needs a minimum temp of 60 degrees.  Pretend it lives in a jungle for culture tips.  Do NOT over water however, as the roots will rot.  Make sure the first couple of inches of soil are dry before watering.  It does prefer acidic soil so if you see interveinal chlorosis keep that in mind.  Fe.

Best part:  Fruit is reportedly edible, do not quote me, triple check that yourself if you ever eat one.  Other members of the genus...megacarpa for example are supposed to have pretty sizeable fruit comparable to a fig.

Tropical Wednesday's doesn't have any kind of alliteration going for it.  I'll have to work on things like that.  Another plant with VERY few pictures available online, get to it folks!  Enjoy.

Lifted from discoverlife.org