The Flower with Lips Like Mick Jagger

On 27 July, Mick Jagger reaches the biblical ‘three-score-and-ten.’ Given the well-known lothario’s lifestyle this is surprising. Perhaps even more surprising is a plant from tropical America whose flowers are a fair imitation of the singer’s celebrated lips – or should that be vice versa?

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The species Psychotria elata is known by such common names as the Hot Lips Plant, Flower of Lips, or more often locally as Labios de Puta which translates as ‘Hooker’s Lips.’ In its native haunts, it may be found from Mexico through Costa Rica into Colombia and also in Jamaica. Michael Phillip Jagger was born in Dartford, England, and attended the London School of Economics. The latter’s oft assumed extreme leftist leanings seem to have had minimal effect on Mick, who is presently estimated to be worth $215-million and is a supporter of the U.K. Conservative Party. More famously he of the trout pout founded the Rolling Stones in 1964 when just 21 years of age.

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Psychotria elata, which has been accused of being ‘botanical porn,’ is said to be pollinated by butterflies and hummingbirds, almost as undiscriminating as the famed rocker himself. His nine-year marriage to Bianca yielded a single daughter, Jade, while a second wife Jerry Hall bore him four children between 1990 and ‘99, when their marriage was annulled. Before, between and beyond those times, Mick has earned a reputation as a lively lothario. Taxonomically, there are 1,400 species of the Psychotria genera belonging to Rubiaceae, the enormous coffee family with over 600 genera and 10,000 species. The Psychotria range from P. acutiflora to the somewhat ominous-sounding P. zombamontana as perennial herbs to shrubs and small understorey trees in tropical forests from the Americas through the Pacific islands and on into Africa. Like Sir Mick – yes, he has received his knighthood – some Psychotria are considered ornamental although this appears to be largely a matter of personal taste. The genera name derives from the Greek psyche, or ‘life,’ as many of the species have found medicinal uses. The species name, elata, simply means ‘tall’ and indeed Mick is 5-foot-10.

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