The Blue Tinderwood, perhaps better known as Clerodendrum myricoides, is a decorative shrub with soft to bright blue flowers that stand out from the mass of foliage and orange to yellow flowers. It is a somewhat rambling, loose-limbed shrub that sends out long branches that scramble over support or other shrubs. If grown alone, it forms a soft, upright shrub to multi-stemmed small tree. Leaves are roughly textured with serrated margins and a rather pungent smell when crushed; they feed the larvae of 2 moth species. Beautiful blue to mauve flowers grow on spikes with elegant, protruding stamens grow on branch tips, in shades of bright to dark blue, but some flowers are a mix of blue or mauve and white. These small clusters attract carpenter bees and even Collared Sunbirds. Fleshy fruits are eaten by birds and monkeys. Plants grow fast to provide a quick screen but need some pruning to retain bushiness. Provincial distribution: Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West