Justicia capensis Thunb.

Shrubby herb or shrub to 1(2) m tall, sparsely to densely branched; stems pale yellow to dark green, puberulous or sparsely with with short erect or bent hairs, sometimes with capitate glands near nodes. Leaves glabrous or sparsely hairy on midrib and larger veins and conspicuously ciliate, with few to many yellow to orange subsessile capitate glands; petiole to 3 cm long; lamina ovate to elliptic or obovate, largest 2.5-11(13) x 1.2-4(6) cm; apex subacute to rounded; base attenuate. Flowers usually 2 per axil of upper leaves, rarely some single; bracts 0.3-1(1.5) cm long. Calyx puberulous or sericeous-puberulous or sparsely so, rarely also with a few stalked capitate glands; lobes 2.5-8(10.5) mm long. Corolla white to purple with white tube, upper lip without darker veins, lower lip with well-developed 'herring-bones', 10-17 mm long; tube (4)5-9 mm long, 1.5-4 mm diameter apically; upper lip (4)5-9 mm long, tube and lip same length; lower lip (4)6-12 x 5.5-12 mm Filaments (3)5-8 mm long; thecae yellow or brown, c. 1 mm long, lower with bifid appendage 0.5-1 mm long. Capsule 12-19(24) mm long, glabrous. Seeds 2-3 mm diameter, densely tuberculate.