Hot Lips

The tongue and lips logo or alternatively the lips and tongue logo, also known as the Hot Lips logo, or the Rolling Stones Records logo, or simply the Rolling Stones logo, is a logo designed by the English art designer John Pasche for the rock band The Rolling Stones in 1970.

 

It has been called the most famous logo in the history of popular music. The logo has remained on all post-1970 albums and singles by the Rolling Stones, in addition to the band's merchandise as well as their stage sets.

 

And in 2012, the band commissioned Shepard Fairey to update the logo for their 50th anniversary.

 

But do you know that in the rainforests of Central and South America, there is a plant, Palicourea elata, commonly referred to as the Hot Lips Plant or Hooker's Lips Plant or by its Costa Rican name Labios de Puta – and which stands as a remarkable botanical wonder in the tropical flora?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most distinctive features of P. elata are its red bracts, a modified set of leaves. Before its flowers bloom, the bracts resemble a pair of human lips. The flowers of P. elata bloom from December to March and can be described as small, star-shaped flowers.

 

P. elata is part of the genus Palicourea, and, as many plants of this genus, does not give off a scent. Due to the undetectable scent, the plant relies on its shape alone to attract pollinators, such as butterflies and hummingbirds. Once pollination and fertilization occurs, P. elata produces small bluish-black berries. These berries are then distributed via birds; a common mechanism that plants of the Palicoura genus use.