Reinwardtia indica (Golden girl)

Reinwardtia indica (Golden girl) yellow flowers with small droplets on rounded delicate soft petals.

Botanical name: Reinwardtia indica

Common names: Golden girl, Yellow flax

Family: Linaceae

Origin: South Asia

USDA Zone: 9-10

Plant form: Large bush

Mature height: 5-10 ft

Sun exposure: Full sun or bright light indoor

Cold tolerance: Frost sensitive. Protect from freezing.

Watering: Regular

Flower color: Yellow, orange

Suitable for: Outdoors in the suitable USDA zone; small gardens, containers, and indoor growing

Wildlife: Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds

Always rewarding is to find a shrub that produces showy flowers during the cool winter months. Midday in December or January you may witness as many as two dozen yellow flowers that are open. Each golden-yellow flower, 2" wide, lasts that one day and is described as being fugacious, meaning that the corolla withers and falls off easily. It commemorates Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (1773-1854), a Prussian-born Dutch botanist who held important positions and professorships in The Netherlands but also served as the founder and first director of agriculture of the botanic garden at Bogor (Buitenzorg) in Java, then a Dutch colony.