Ruellia blechum L.

Species

Angiosperms > Lamiales > Acanthaceae > Ruellia

Characteristics

Herbs to 50 cm tall. Roots lacking tuberlike swellings. Stems slightly 4-angled, often prostrate and rooting at nodes, sparsely pubescent to subglabrous. Petiole 0.5-2.5 cm, strigose; leaf blade ovate, 3-6 × 2-4 cm, abaxially paler and subglabrous, adaxially green, sparsely strigose and densely pilose along veins, secondary veins 5-8 on each side of midvein, base obtuse to rounded and slightly decurrent onto petiole, margin entire, apex acute. Inflorescences terminal, dense spikes, 2-6 cm, subsessile to shortly pedunculate; rachis strigose; bracts subleaflike, ovate, ca. 1.5 × 1.3 cm, abaxially slightly pubescent, margin ciliate; bracteoles 2, lanceolate-ovate, 5-9 × 1.5-3 mm, margin ciliate. Calyx lobes linear to subulate, outside pilose. Corolla white to pale blue, ca. 1.5 cm (cleistogamous flowers sometimes present, these much smaller and budlike), outside puberulent on lobes; lobes ovate, ca. 3 × 2 mm. Stamens with longer pair ca. 4 mm and shorter pair ca. 3 mm; filaments glabrous; anther thecae ca. 1 mm. Ovary comose; style 6-10 mm, slightly hirsute; stigma usually with only 1 lobe evident. Capsule substipitate, ovoid to ellipsoid, ca. 6 mm, puberulent, 8-12-seeded; septa with attached retinacula separating from inner wall of mature capsule. Seeds ca. 1.5 mm in diam., margin with a conspicuous band of appressed hygroscopic trichomes. Fl. Nov, fr. Nov. 2n = 34.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.5 - 0.7
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Light 1-6
Soil humidity 5-7
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Boil (unspecified), Insecticide (unspecified), Pediculicide (unspecified), Ulcer (unspecified), Vermifuge (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Night-Sweat (unspecified), Micturition (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) 30 - 60
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 23
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Ruellia blechum leaf picture by dan hewison (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Ruellia blechum flower picture by dan hewison (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Ruellia blechum world distribution map, present in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Barbados, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Fiji, Micronesia (Federated States of), Guadeloupe, Grenada, Guatemala, French Guiana, Guam, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Mexico, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Montserrat, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Sudan, El Salvador, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Taiwan, Province of China, United States Minor Outlying Islands, United States of America, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:224052-2
WFO ID wfo-0000402095
COL ID 4TMVF
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 636296
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Justicia martinicensis Ruellia parviflora Barleria pyramidata Alvarezia parviflora Blechum haenkei Blechum luzonium Blechum pyramidatum Blechum brownei f. brownei Blechum brownei f. puberulum Blechum brownei Justicia lupulina Barleria pyramidalis Blechum brownei f. albiflorum Blechum brownei f. coeruleum Blechum blechum Blechum brownei Blechum linnaei Blechum trinitense Blechum brownei var. laxum Blechum brownei var. subcordatum Blechum linnaei var. laxum Blechum linnaei var. nanum Ruellia blechum