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Lythraceae FAMILY

Cuphea calophylla

Cuphea calophylla

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Perennial
Growth—

Species in this genus generally prefer a position in full sun, but are tolerant of partial shade. They generally grow best in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils[1]. Called 'hog weed' and 'hog bush' in Belize, the plant often invades cultivated ground, and because of the large roots and the tough hard stems, can be very difficult to eradicate[2]. The seed of Cuphea species is generally a good source of medium length fatty acids, which have a range of industrial and cosmetic applications and can also be used in foods[3]. Several species are being trialled as seed oil crops in temperate zone countries, though they are unlikely to become a commercial crop in the tropics simply because it is so much easier to grow oil crops such as palm oil (Elaeis species) and coconut (Cocos nucifera).

Propagation

Seed - can be sown in situ[4]. Germination usually takes a few weeks because of the hard seed coat. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Cuphea+calophylla>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  2. [2]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
  3. [3]The National Non-Food Crops Centre Crop Database — http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/crops/pd.cfm ↩︎An excellent on-line information source, with information on over 100 species (as of 2006) of plants being investigated as bio-crops.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]Flora of Costa Rica — Standley P.C. · Field Museum of Natural History; Chicago · 1938 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎Rather dated, but an excellent treatment of the area. Available for download from the internet.
  6. [6]A comprehensive review of Cuphea (Lythraceae) — Mohamed R Elgindi; Nahla Ayoub; Rola Milad and Reham Hassan · 2011 · ISBN 0975-8585 ↩︎Gives information on the traditional medicinal uses of various cuphea species, and also a review of modern research and the compounds the plants contain.