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Agapetes serpens

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Agapetes serpens is a flowering plant in the heath family (Ericaceae) native to the Himalayas. This semi-climbing shrub grows to about 40–60 cm tall and is grown as an ornamental for its shiny evergreen leaves and long clusters of pendulous red tubular flowers that bloom for a long period.

It adapts to warm temperate to sub-tropical climates but does not tolerate prolonged freezing (RHS hardiness H2). It should be grown in a sheltered spot in acid or neutral soil. The Latin name serpens means "snake-like," and the plant has earned the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It was first described in 1847 as Vaccinium serpens by Robert Wight, named Pentapterygium serpens by Klotzsch in 1851, and placed in Agapetes by Sleumer in 1939, giving its current name.


This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:25 (CET).