Ruellia cordata Thunb.

Species

Angiosperms > Lamiales > Acanthaceae > Ruellia

Characteristics

Perennial herb with up to 15 erect to decumbent stems to 35 (60) cm long, from a creeping often branched woody rootstock; young stems subglabrous (always hairy at nodes) to puberulous with stiff spreading or downwardly curved hairs, rarely pubescent. Leaves subglabrous (scattered hairs along veins) to sparsely puberulous, rarely sparsely pubescent, densest along veins, distinctly ciliate; petiole 1-6 mm long; lamina narrowly to broadly ovate or cordiform, largest 1.7-4.2 (5) x 1-3.2 cm; apex subacute to rounded; base cuneate to cordate, nearly always some cordate or subcordate. Flowers solitary, axillary; pedicels 1-4 (18) mm long; bracteoles 11-17 x 3-7 mm, ovate to elliptic or narrowly so. Calyx (5) 6-9 (11) mm long, 3 teeth fused at least half way up, the other 2 free to c.1 mm from base, ciliate lobes otherwise glabrous; lobes narrowly triangular. Corolla open during the day, mauve to purple; tube 20-28 mm long of which basal cylindric part 7-10 mm and throat 13-18 mm long; lobes 6-10 x 6-9 mm, broadly ovate-elliptic with entire to crenate-dentate margin. Stamens included in throat, didynamous, anthers not or slightly overlapping; filaments fused for 1-3 mm at base, free parts 4-7 and 6-9 mm long, glabrous or hairy near base; anthers 2-3 mm long. Ovary glabrous; ventral stigma lobe 1.5-2 x c.0.5 mm. Capsule clavate, glabrous, 15-19 mm long, 4-10-seeded. Seeds circular, brown, 4-4.5 x 4-4.5 mm.
More
Perennial, dwarf shrub or herb, 0.1-0.6 m high. Stems with scattered hairs on faces and ring of eglandular hairs at nodes. Leaves 10-50 x 3-38 mm, lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, thinly textured, almost hairless except for sparse, stiff hairs along margins and sometimes along midrib. Bracts 4-28 x 1-7 mm, linear to narrowly elliptic or leaf-like, broadly ovate or elliptic. Flowers solitary, axillary. Calyx bilabiate, 4.5-9.0 mm long, lobes linear triangular to narrowly triangular or triangular, variously hairy. Flowering time Sept.-Jan. Fruit 10-18 x 4-6 mm, obtrullate to narrowly clavate or clavate, glabrous. Seeds pale buff-olive-coloured, both surfaces glabrous, shiny.
Perennial herb, up to 500 mm high. Stems decumbent to erect. Leaves petiolate; blade ovate, up to 40 x 30 mm, base truncate or cordate, apex acute, margins entire, thinly hairy; petioles up to 10 mm long. Flowers: calyx obscurely 2-lipped, 2 nearly free to base, 3 connate for < 1/2 their length; corolla pale mauve or white; May-Feb. Fruit 10-13 mm long.
Perennial decumbent to erect herb, up to 500 mm tall. Leaves ovate, base truncate or cordate, thinly hairy. Calyx obscurely 2-lipped, 2 nearly free to base, 3 connate for less than half their length. Flowers pale mauve or white.
A herb. It has a woody rootstock and twiggy stems. It has grey hairs. The leaves are broadly oval and can be heart shaped at the base. They are 1.5 cm across. They are mauve.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.5
Root system creeping-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a tropical plant. It grows in damp shady places.
Light -
Soil humidity 1-3
Soil texture 6-7
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses medicinal
Edible leaves
Therapeutic use -
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

Ruellia cordata unspecified picture

Distribution

Ruellia cordata world distribution map, present in Mozambique, eSwatini, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:53950-1
WFO ID wfo-0001033300
COL ID 4TMYH
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Dipteracanthus cordifolius Ruellia cordata