There are several species, natives of tropical and subtropical America, the best known being glabra, speciosa, Sanderiana, and spectabilis - all remarkable for the large and conspicuous rosy-mauve bracts surrounding the narrow tubular flowers. The plants are usually grown as climbers, or over wire balloons, but they may be grown as bushy pot plants. They flourish in a mixture of sandy loam and peat, and are easily raised from cuttings of the half-ripened shoots inserted in sandy soil, and plunged in a hotbed with brisk bottom heat. When in flower the effect of the floral bracts is gorgeous, and of late years plants have become popular for the open flower border during the summer months. A good variety called "Maud Cheddleburgh" has appeared of late years.