See text Schizanthus /ˌskɪˈzænθəs/,[1] also called butterfly flower, fringeflower, poor-man's-orchid, is a genus of plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae.

They are annual or biennial herbaceous plants, with attractive flowers and they belong to the subfamily Schizanthoideae of the Solanaceae.

[2][3] Annual or biennial, glandulous-pubescent herbaceous plants, with alternate, pinnatilobate or bipinnatisect leaves and attractive flowers, arranged at the end of stems.

The corolla is bilabiate; the superior labia is tripartite, with the central lobe complete and notched and the two laterals bifid.

The flowers are divided into a number of segments, they are very colourful, shades of violet with yellow patches and a dark line at the divisions between the upper labia.

[4][6][7] The seeds do not germinate easily in artificial conditions as they need scarification or manual abrasion to obtain good results.

The flowers are white, pink or violet, 2 to 3 cm in diameter, arranged in paniculate inflorescences, sometimes dichotomous.

[4][6][9] This plant is an interspecific hybrid between Schizanthus pinnatus and S. grahamii, it grows to between 30 and 40 cm tall and has characteristics intermediate between both progenitors.

The flowers are very attractive, they are white, blue, pink or rose coloured depending on the variety.

The majority of Schizanthus species are pollinated by hymenoptera (bees, bumblebees and wasps of the genera Alloscirtetica, Bombus, and Megachile, among others).

[11][12] Alkaloids are nitrogenous organic substances that are produced by plants as a secondary metabolite and which have an intense physiological action on animals even at low doses.

[15][16] Schizanthus is a somewhat atypical genus among the solanaceas due to its strongly zygomorphic flowers and basic chromosome number.

[17] At that time the southern regions of South America were experiencing tropical to subtropical conditions.

Clade C contains S. laetus with two related sub-clades, one of which includes S. litoralis and S. porrigens, and the other S. tricolor, S. pinnatus, and S. parvulus.

The flowers of Schizanthus are available in a wide range of colors and sizes, and are delicately spotted and blotched like the smaller butterflies.

The leaves are attractive with soft green, deeply cut and fern like that are often covered with fine hair.