Shrimp plant is native to Mexico. It has become naturalized on the Florida penninsula. Many
cultivars are available.
Identification: Shrimp plants are 3-5′ (1-1.5 m) tall and up to
3′ (1 m) wide. Leaves are oval, 1-3″ (3-7.5 cm) long. Stems and leaves are downy.
Branches are topped by red "flowers" that are really bracts—modified leaves. These have a shape and
texture suggestive of shrimp, hence the common name.
They are about 6″ (15 cm) long and initially white, becoming
rusty red, pinkish red, pale pink, deep salmon, orange(-ish), pink-bronze, or brownish red—accounts obviously vary.
(Cultivars appear in other colors as well.)
The bracts grow in segments like sections of shrimp shells, sometimes reaching as much as a foot in
length.
The real flowers are white, tubular, with throats containing deep red speckles. They are fairly inconspicuous.