Justicia rhodesiana S.Moore

Shrubby herb or shrub or pyrophytic suffrutescent herb with several unbranched or sparsely branched stems from a creeping woody rootstock; stems erect to decumbent, then often rooting at lower nodes, to 1 m long (to 30 cm in pyrophytic plants), when young uniformly minutely puberulous or densely so with hairs to 0.1 mm long, rarely with a few hairs to 0.25 mm long, older branches greyish with slightly corky bark. Leaves sparsely minutely puberulous, usually densest on midrib and margins, very rarely with scattered longer hairs; petiole to 0.5 cm long; lamina narrowly ovate to ovate, rarely elliptic, largest 0.7-2.5(3.2) x 0.3-1.2(1.6) cm; apex acute to broadly rounded base attenuate to rounded. Flowers single or 2-4 in axils of upper leaves; bracts ovate to elliptic, to 0.8 cm long, minutely puberulous, with stalked capitate glands; bracteoles to 1(2.5) mm long. Calyx uniformly minutely puberulous with hairs to 0.1 mm long, with or without stalked capitate glands; lobes (1.5)2-4.5(5.5) mm long. Corolla white, rarely tinged mauve or purple, lower lip without distinct 'herring-bone' pattern, upper lip sometimes with faintly mauve veins, 5-9(10) mm long; tube 3-5(6) mm long, widening immediately above base, 0-1 mm longer than upper lip; upper lip 2-5 mm long, teeth 0.5-1 mm long; lower lip 3-6 x 3-6 mm Filaments 1-3 mm long; thecae yellow, rarely purple tinged, 0.5-1 mm long, lower with acute appendage c. 0.3 mm long. Capsule 6-7.5(9) mm long, uniformly minutely puberulous (hairs to 0.1 mm long); indehiscent fruits not seen. Seeds c. 1 mm long.