Chilean National Flower: Copihue

Unfortunately, I never saw a Copihue, the national flower of Chile, during my stay. This is because I spent most of my time in Santiago and the Copihue is native of southern Chile. As you can see, it is a very beautiful flower:

According to wikipedia:

The Copihue (Lapageria rosea), also known as the Chilean Bellflower and Chilean Glory Flower, is the national flower of Chile. It grows in forests in the southern part of Chile and Argentina… It is an evergreen climbing plant reaching up to 10 [meters] high among shrubs and trees. The flowers are red, with six petals; the fruit is an edible berry with numerous small seeds. In the wild the plant is pollinated by hummingbirds.

You can buy Copihue seeds online from several different vendors.

Picture by Andres Otarola and presented under Creative Commons.

Posted September 7th, 2006 in Culture.