Sarmienta scandens, the Chilean pitcher flower, is a species of flowering plant, and the sole member of its genus within the family Gesneriaceae. It is an epiphyte native to the cool temperate rainforest of southern and central Chile.
The Latin specific epithet scandens means "climbing".[1]
Reaching just 10cm (00inches) tall by 50cm (20inches) broad, it is a creeping evergreen perennial with small oval leaves and pendent scarlet pitcher-shaped flowers in summer.[2]
In temperate regions it is usually grown under glass, either epiphytically or using a specialist potting medium containing leaf mould or sphagnum moss. It may be placed outside during the summer months, in a warm sheltered spot where the temperature does not fall below 5C. It may however survive brief periods down to 0C.[2]
The plant is still widely advertised as Sarmienta repens, a name which is now regarded as illegitimate.[3]
Sarmienta scandens has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[4] [5]