aphelandra

aphelandra (af-uh-LAN-druh) - n., any shrub of the evergreen tropical American genus Aphelandra, widely grown as a house plant for its shiny variegated leaves and brightly colored flowers.


Around 170 species, give or take, and includes some rather showy ones:


Thanks, WikiMedia!

Many of them have flowers more on the red spectrum, but I like the stripy leaves of that one, an A. squarrosa. Name was coined from Ancient Greek roots aphelēs, simple/smooth + andros, genitive of anēr, man/male, because the anthers are single-celled. Which, huh.

---L.