Aeschynanthus, sometimes called the lipstick plant, lipstick vine, or basket vine, is a genus of roughly 140 different species and cultivars of evergreen plants, vines, and climbing plants. Plants in this genus are local to the warm and damp sub-tropical forest climates of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Himalayas. In natural settings, some species of lipstick plant can be discovered growing in the clefts of tree branches.

Like its cousins the African violet and Cape primrose, lipstick plants are popular, low-maintenance houseplants with engaging long flowers. Some kinds of lipstick plant are epiphytes.

This implies that they grow immediately on another plant. In this situation of lipstick plants, they grow in the clefts of trees where the branches meet the tree trunk. They grow in the roting leaves and twigs that collect in these clefts. Since the tree is uninjured, the lipstick plant isn’t considered parasitic.

In late summer and early fall, the lipstick plant produces clumps of long, red flowers looking a bit like tubes of lipstick, close to the ends of branches. The scale of the flowers varies between species, but the plants themselves usually grow to a height of six to twelve inches ( 15-30 cm ). If kept in a pot that’s too big, the plant won’t flower because its energy will be diverted to growing more roots and foliage rather than making flowers. Root bound plants in a correctly sized pot have a tendency to flower the most, provided they’re fertilized with liquid manure every fortnight during the spring and summer. Its trailing foliage is a dark glossy green year round.