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Cigar Flower

Cuphea ignea, Lythraceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

Not yet rated How forgiving it is has not been judged here yet.

Also called cigar plant, firecracker plant, Mexican Cigar, Mexican cigar flower, Mexican Cigar Plant, red-white-and-blue flower, vegetable firecracker and Vegetable Flower.

Cigar Flower (Cuphea ignea), the whole plant.
Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Toxicity is partly unassessed

  • Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for people. RHS publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.

What the sources say about its care

Light
Full sun, Partial shade
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Water
Well-drained
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%
Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Temperature

How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.

H2 — 1–5°C 1–5 °C
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Soil
Chalk, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or Neutral
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.
RHS · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Watering
Water less during this period too.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Propagation
Seeds or stem cuttings give the best results for propagation.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Increase from seed.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Pruning
If pruning is needed, do it right after flowering ends.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
If needed, pruning group 10 in spring.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Pests and diseases
Usually free of pests and diseases.
RHS · read 13 September 2026

Move something and watch

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Flowers of Cigar Flower (Cuphea ignea).
Flowersgailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Cuphea ignea, the cigar plant, cigar flower, firecracker plant, or Mexican cigar, sometimes referred to as cigarette plant or cigarette bush is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cuphea of the family Lythraceae. It is a tropical, densely branched evergreen subshrub. This species, native to Mexico and the West Indies, produces small, tubular, bright red to orange flowers. Each flower is tipped with a thin white rim and two small purple-black petals. The flowers, which are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies, resemble lit cigars, hence the name ignea, which is Latin for "fiery". The genus name Cuphea comes from the Greek word kyphos which means curved or humped; this is thought to refer to the shape of the seeds. The leaves are small, elliptical and of a bright green colour. It grows to about 60 cm (24 in).

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026

Native range
Mexico (Oaxaca, Chiapas)
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Mexico Southeast and Mexico Southwest
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Mexico, Jamaica
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Climate
wet tropical
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
subshrub or shrub
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Annual, Perennial, Shrub; habit dense, rounded
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Spreading branched (evergreen)
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 12–36 in; width 12–36 in
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Height 0.1-0.5 metres; spread 0.5-1 metres after 5–10 years
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
Flowers black, orange, red/burgundy, white; blooms in fall, spring, summer
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Flowers black in spring, summer and autumn; red in spring, summer and autumn; white in spring, summer and autumn
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Uses

What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.

May have environmental uses.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Other Cuphea

More of the Lythraceae family

Plants with similar care

Sources

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.