(nat) Butterfly weed, bloodflower, laulele, lauhele, nu ‘umela, pua ‘anuhe
Erect perennial herbs 6-8(-20) dm tall; stems unbranched or many-branched, glabrous or puberulent, especially on younger parts. Leaves opposite, lanceolate to linear- lanceolate, narrowly oblong-elliptic, or elliptic, 5-16 cm long, 1—3(—4) cm wide, petioles 1-2 cm long. Flowers in axillary umbellate cymes, pedicels 1-2 cm long; corolla red to reddish orange, the lobes ovate to oblong, 4-7 mm long, reflexed at anthesis, glabrous; corona bright yellow, the seg¬ments erect, 4-5 mm long, exceeded by the conspicuous inner horn. Follicles erect, fusiform, 8-10 cm long, 1-1.5 cm in diameter. [2n = 22.] Native from Florida to South America and the West Indies; in Hawaii naturalized in low elevation, often dry habitats on all of the main islands. On Hawaii it occurs up to 950 m. According to Degener (1938b), introduced to Hawaii between 1845 and 1850.—Plate 13.