PLANT IDENTIFICATION GUIDE The Tropical Butterfly House features plants from tropical areas around the world. There are over 100 species growing here. Use this guide to identify some of our favorite residents. Please look with your eyes and do not touch. Every flower picked reduces the butterflies’ food supply. NECTAR PROVIDERS These flowering plants are a major food source for the butterflies. The flowers provide a sugar rich liquid called nectar. The butterflies visit these plants to feed on the nectar. Senecio confusus Lantana camara Pentas lanceolata Mexican Flame Vine Shrub verbena Egyptian Star Cluster Mexico to Honduras West Indies Yemen to Tropical East Africa Stachytarpheta jamaicensis Ixora coccinea Clereodendron ugandense Jamaican Porterweed Jungle Flame Butterfly Plant Widely dispersed in the Tropics India, Sri Lanka Tropical Africa Psiguria umbrosa Euphorbia millii Heliotropium arborescens Psiguria Vine Crown of Thorns Heliotrope Central America Madagascar Peru FABULOUS FOLIAGE Plants grown for their foliage. Foliage (leaves) come in all shapes and sizes! Here are some of our favorites. Thaumatophyllum sprucei Cyperus papyrus Alocasia lowii Wonderleaf Philodendron Egyptian Paper Rush, Papyrus African Mask Brazil, Ecuador, Peru Egypt to Tropical Africa Philippines, Indonesia PLEASE LEAVE THIS GUIDE IN THE TROPICAL BUTTERFLY HOUSE. ©2007 Pacific Science Center SHOWY FLOWers These are some of our most frequently asked about flowers. These plants are not a major food source for butterflies. Brugmansia X candida ‘Grand Marnier’ Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Pachystachys lutea Angels Trumpet Chinese Hibiscus Lollipop Plant Hybrid – Garden Origin Origin unknown (probably Tropical Asia) Peru Allamanda cathartica Gardenia jasminoides Jasminum sambac Golden Trumpet Gardenia, Cape Jasmine Arabian Jasmine Central and South America China, Taiwan, Japan Origin unknown (probably Tropical Asia) Bougainvillea spectabilis Plumeria rubra ‘acutifolia’ Anthurium scherzeranum Bougainvillea, Paper Flower Frangipani, Plumeria Flamingo Flower Brazil Mexico to Panama Costa Rica, Guatemala ETHNOBotanicaLS Ethnobotany: The study of how people use plants. These are plants many of us use in our everyday lives. Coffea arabica Theobroma cacao Vanilla planifolia Coffee Cocoa Tree Vanilla East Africa Central America Florida, West Indies, Central and South America Seeds are removed from berries Seeds are fermented, roasted, and then roasted, ground, and brewed ground into a powder (cocoa) that Vanilla is extracted from pod-like to make an aromatic drink. is an ingredient in chocolate. seed capsules harvested from this vining orchid. This guide and other interpretive materials have been made possible by a generous grant from the Pendleton and Elisabeth Carey Miller Charitable Foundation. PLEASE LEAVE THIS GUIDE IN THE TROPICAL BUTTERFLY HOUSE. ©2007 Pacific Science Center.