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Starlight Purple

Flower type: Perennial (Stores water in the thickened base of its stem)

This short flower grows up to 1 inch (3 cm) tall. Its brown stem is very thick and splits into 4 branching stems three quarters of the way up, and the huge, green leaves are pleated with toothed edges. Many leaves grow at the base of the stem, and more leaves grow in pairs along the length of the stem.

Each stem splits 2 to 7 times; a single tiny flower grows at the end of each split. The flowers are 1 cm (0.4 inches) wide, with petals that are drab purple on the underside and lilac on the top. The flower head is shaped like a star made up of 14 raised, narrow petals. They fall easily.

It has a scent that varies in strength that smells like rotten eggs, and it has copious amounts of pollen. It is pollinated by a small species of bird, but is also visited by a small species of bird.

It is suitable for making baskets and the like
It is bio-luminescent.
It grows well in the sun and full shade.