Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Myrtales
Family:Melastomataceae
Genus:Tibouchina
Scientific name: Tibouchina urvilleana, Sometimes it is listed as Tibouchina semidecandra.
Common Names: Princess flower, glory bush, Purple glory bush, lasiandra
A native of Brazil, princess flower (Tibouchina urvilleana) has large purple flowers and soft hairy leaves and grows 10-20 feet when mature. This tree is an evergreen and is a vigorous grower that is covered during the warm months with big beautiful bluish purple flowers. The Purple glory bush has numerous slender stems are rather vine like and grow to about 4.6 m in length sprawling in all directions to create up to 4m mounds. The simple leaves are velvety green and often tinged with red and are lighter on the undersides. They are large and coarse and 7.6-13 cm long and 2.5-3.8 cm wide with 3 to 5 midribs running the length. The Purple glory bush blooms heavily in summer and sporadically throughout the year. The brilliant purple flowers are 7.6 cm in diameter and so vividly coloured they appear fluorescent..
