Clerodendrum colebrookeanum - East Indian Glory Bower

East Indian Glory Bower is a shrub or small tree, 1.5-3 m tall. Branchlets are robust, 4-angled, densely yellow-brown finely velvet-hairy when young. Leaf stalks are 2-20 cm long, carrying broadly ovate to elliptic- heart-shaped leaves which are 7-17 cm long, 6-21 cm wide. Leaf base is wedge- shaped to heart-shaped, margin entire to slightly wavy, tip long-pointed to pointed. Flowers are borne in 4-6-branched corymbose cymes, at the end of branches. Stalk carrying the cyme is robust, 1.5-13 cm. Bracts are lanceshaped, 1.5 cm, deciduous. Sepal cup is bell-shaped, 3-5 mm, tube 1-3 mm, densely velvety, with several peltate glands. Sepals are triangular, less than 1 mm. Flowers are white or rarely pinkish, with a long narrow tube 1.2-2.5 cm. Petals are oblong, 3-6 mm. Stamens and style prominently protrude out. Fruiting sepal cup is purple, inflated. Fruit is blue-green, becoming black when dry, nearly round, about 1 cm in diameter. Kuki people of Manipur cook pork with the leaves of this plant. East Indian Glory Bower is found in NE India, and parts of China and SE Asia, at altitudes of 500-2000 m. Flowering: August-December.