The Small Yellow Star of the Fiery Rose ‘Mosanda’

The Mussaenda Erythrophylla is a flowering plant found in tropical areas, also known as Ashanti Blood, Red Flag Bush or Dogwood, and is naive to West Africa. It is very widely found in Kerala both as a decorative plant and in the wild, and sports flowery leaves which may be red, rose pink or white, but the actual flower is the little yellow star that blooms in the middle of the “flowery leaves”. I have a lot of nostalgia surrounding this plant and its flowers as I grew up among them. The plant and flower is called “Mosanda” which is actually derived from its scientific name 🙂