The showy medinilla, or Medinilla cummingii, is another plant that I only noticed recently on walk around the botanic gardens in Sydney. Don’t know why, but that why I love going there-I usually do see at least a couple of new plants!
Anyway, the showy medinilla is a tropical plants that’s apparently prized for its evergreen foliage and its showy flowers. I can see why. Also known as the chandelier tree, it is a native to the Philippians and prefers moderate or dappled shade and shelter from the wind. It can reach 1.5 metres in both height and spread. It is a member of the Melastomataceae family.
The binomial name, Medinilla cummingii, has the following meanings:
- Medinilla-this genus name is used in honour of the Governor of the Mariana Island, José de Medinilla y Pineda inn 1820.
- Cummingii-honours a British naturalist, botanist and collector. He became known as the ‘Prince of Collectors’> He was called Hugh Cuming (1791-1865). On his travels, he extensively documented flora and fauna across tropical areas and countries like South America, the Phillippines and the Pacific Islands.
The leaves of the showy medinilla are large, dark green and oval in shape with prominent veins.
The flowers are what caught my eye. They appear in pendulous inflorescences. The individual flowers are pink or purple and appear from pink bracts.
In the garden, the soil needs to be moist and well drained. Plant the plant in part shade, or in bright, indirect sunlight. Morning sun can be ok, but hot afternoon sun should be avoided. The humidity should be high, just like it would be in the plant’s native tropics.
To propagate, seeds can be used or cuttings can be taken.
Last of all, would I have this plant in my garden? To be honest, it would depend on what else I had in my garden. I do think that this is a fantastic plant, but it needs to be surrounded by other tropical plants to allow it to shine, in my opinion. If I did have plenty of tropical plants, then yes I would.
https://selby.org/medinilla-cummingii-melastomataceae/
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/medinilla/