Scientific name: Tibouchina gramulosa

Family: Melastomaceae

Origin: Brazil.

Popular names: lent, lent flower, lent.

Natural occurrence: Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

Characteristics: it occurs naturally in the dense rainforest of the Atlantic slopes, small to medium in size, with a dense and full-bodied crown, reaching 8-12 meters in height. It has two varieties of flowers, one with pink and the other with purple. It usually blooms twice a year, from June to August and from March to April, with its most abundant flowering between March and April, coinciding with the period of Lent, hence its name “Lent”.

Uses: it is a tree widely used in landscaping squares, gardens and in afforestation of streets and avenues.

See all tree and shrub species mapped on Bahiana