anyone know the name of this lovely

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Berni J

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Jun 13, 2018, 1:11:57 PM6/13/18
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creature . . . .

Gene French

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Jun 13, 2018, 1:53:30 PM6/13/18
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Wow...
That is beautiful...

Gene

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Sam Wilson

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Jun 13, 2018, 2:28:08 PM6/13/18
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I've got the pink variety of that growing, but its name escapes me at the moment.
They are fairly common ornamentals in Guanacaste.  I think they are a cousin of
the poinsettia -- some sort of Euphorbiaceae.  We regularly see red flower/leaf,
pink flower/leaf, and white flower/leaf varieties.

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Sam

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epicatt2

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Jun 14, 2018, 1:29:30 PM6/14/18
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On Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 2:28:08 PM UTC-4, Sam Wilson wrote:
[ snip ] I think they are a cousin of
the poinsettia -- some sort of Euphorbiaceae.  We regularly see red flower/leaf,
pink flower/leaf, and white flower/leaf varieties.

==   ==

Sam,  That's what I was going to say: a poinsettia relative i.e., a member of the Euphorbiaceæ.  
It even has several reddened leaves near the apex of the stem just as a poinsettia would do.

But I never have seen this species before.  Is there a common tico name for it?

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

Sam Wilson

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Jun 14, 2018, 2:30:44 PM6/14/18
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Berni,

Okay, this is so common around here, that nobody knew its name!  ;-)

Finally, I've got the scientific name, NOT btw the Euphorbiaceae genus like I
originally thought.  What we have here is the Mussaenda erythrophylla.  I've got
what would be a huge pink flowered tree of this that we regularly hack back to
fit in the little garden area in which my wife grows this. Online I've seen folks call
it the "Mosa Indra"

Pinkish Large Petaled Flower From Costa Rica

This is what our pink variety looks like:

Mosa Indra - Costa Rica



Here's the red variety that Berni has:


800px-Mussaenda_erythrophylla02.JPG

Whew!  I still don't know what we call it around here.  My wife has
never heard it called Mosa Indra...

--
Sam


Berni J

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Jun 14, 2018, 3:00:10 PM6/14/18
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Yes it is def that family though an image search does not show this one.

epicatt2

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Jun 14, 2018, 4:25:13 PM6/14/18
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On Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 2:30:44 PM UTC-4, Sam Wilson wrote:
Berni,

Okay, this is so common around here, that nobody knew its name!  ;-)

Finally, I've got the scientific name, NOT btw the Euphorbiaceae genus like I
originally thought.  What we have here is the Mussaenda erythrophylla.  I've got
what would be a huge pink flowered tree of this that we regularly hack back to
fit in the little garden area in which my wife grows this. Online I've seen folks call
it the "Mosa Indra"
==  ==

I found online these other english common names for this species:

Ashanti Blood, Red Flag Bush, Tropical Dogwood


Had not heard that tico name for it.

At first I kinda was thinking it was a tropical dogwood but then I had mostly talked myself out of that 'til I saw Sam's link.  

The leaves and flower 'petals' of the plant in your photos were a bit less dogwood-looking and I'd seen another (apparently different species of) tropical dogwood in and around La Fortuna the flowers of which looked even more like the dogwood flowers in the US, but having a rusty orange-y color not quite so reddish as these in your photos, Berni.

Now I'm curious...  Does anyone know how the tico common name 'mosa indra' translates?  The closest I can tell might be  that it means: beautiful girl (or young woman) and maybe it's more likely written, 'Moza Indra'.
 
Cheerd!

Paul M.
==

Berni J

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Jun 14, 2018, 5:09:11 PM6/14/18
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OK yes it looks like a Mussaenda but the flowering leaves are way different to Mussaenda philippica - here on wiki:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mussaenda_philippica - we have the pink variety as well as a white variety with lovely curling flower bracts - not sure what the name of that part is called.  Berni
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