The rouge plant is variable; the leaves may be glabrous (smooth) to pubescent (fuzzy). It is reported to grow to one meter in height, but in Florida it is generally no larger than 0.5 meter. The plant does best in shady locations and blooms most of the year. The tiny pale pink/white flowers give rise to brilliant orange or red berries.
From Costa Rica to the northeast coast of Mexico, the rouge plant plays host to the caterpillar of Goodson's greenstreak (Cyanophrys goodsoni). Although the berries are considered toxic to humans, birds find them irresistible. The plant is recommended to attract birds to the garden.
Southwestern Native Americans used the berries for a red dye. In Mexico, the leaves were employed to treat wounds. The native leaf treatment had some validity. A study of leaf extracts of the rouge plant found it was weakly bacteriostatic (stopped growth and reproduction) against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, and other infective bacteria.
The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center of the USGS has posted a photograph of Goodson's greenstreak taken by Robert A. Behrstock with a narrative by Jane M. Struttmann To view the photograph and learn more about this little butterfly, click on the link: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/usa/322.htm
(Compiled from: "Rivina humilis Linnaeus", FNA Vol. 4, pg 10, Flora of North America, eFloras.org; "Rivina humilis", R.P. Wunderlin and B. F. Hansen, Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, 2004; Taylor's Encyclopedia of Gardening, Norman Taylor, 4th Edition, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1961; and "Screening of some plants from Northern Argentina for their antimicrobial activity", A. Salvat, L. Antonnacci, R.H. Fortunato, E.Y. Suarez, and H.M. Godoy, Letters in Applied Microbiology, 32, pg 293-297, 2001)
