There are more than 400 species of Clerodendrum. The members of this diverse genus occur naturally in tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa, and include evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants.

Clerodendrum ugandense, commonly known as the Blue butterfly bush because it resembles a blue butterfly when in flower, is an open and sprawling evergreen shrub that gets up to 10 ft (3 m) tall and wide in its native Africa, but is easily kept much smaller. The flowers are two different shades of blue and are produced more or less continuously throughout the summer and autumn.

The genus name comes from the Greek: dendron, tree; and kleros, chance, a reference to the varied medicinal properties purported for some members of the genus. C. trichotomum, from China, has been shown to lower high blood pressure, and is prescribed in Chinese herbal medicine for a variety of ailments.

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Clerodendrum

Clerodendrum ugandense