In South India, Kanakambaram is the favourite flowers of ladies to put in their hair. It competes strongly with jasmine to adorn the south-Indian hair-do's. It is an erect, evergreen subshrub growing to 1 m with glossy, wavy-margined leaves and fan-shaped flowers, which may appear at any time throughout the year. The flowers are unusually shaped with 3 to 5 asymmetrical petals. They grow from four-sided stalked spikes, and have a tube-like 2 cm long stalk. Leaves are 6-9 x 2-4 cm, elliptic, pointed at both ends, usually crowded towards branch ends. Flower colors range from the common orange to salmon-orange or apricot, coral to red, yellow and even turquoise. The common name "firecracker flower" refers to the seed pods, which are found after the flower has dried up, and tend to "explode" when near high humidity or rainfall. The "explosion" releases the seeds onto the ground, thereby creating new seedlings.

Crossandra infundibuliformis belonging to family Acanthaceae is well known medicinal plant in various region of India. This plant is one of the most chosen variety for folk medicine. Flower extract used in various conditions like fever, headache, aperitif, pain etc.