Ruellia tuberosa L.

Minnieroot (en), Ruellie tubéreuse (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Lamiales > Acanthaceae > Ruellia

Characteristics

Annual herb, 40-60 cm tall, erect, usually with 1-2 main branches; roots long, thin, tuberous. Branches 4-angled, often grooved, ± glabrous, or with trichomes on 2 opposite sides. Petiole ca. 15 mm long; blade ovate to oblong, 3.7-6 x 2.7-3.5 cm, rather thick, glabrous or very sparingly pubescent; margin crenulate, covered with numerous minute cystoliths. Inflorescence axillary, dichasium with sometimes cleistogamous lateral flowers; peduncle ca. 18-34 mm long, glabrous; pedicels 1-6 mm long, glabrous; bracteoles narrowly linear, shorter than or equal to pedicels, sometimes in cleistogamous flowers equal to one half as long as calyx. Calyx lobes 14.5 x 0.5-1 mm at maturity, smaller, 10 x 0.6 mm in cleistogamous flowers, lobes glabrous to sparingly puberulous; corolla of open flowers blue to mauve, darker in throat, tube 10-12 mm long, externally pubescent towards apex, throat slightly oblique to tube, 22-25 mm long, pubescent, lobes 16-17 x 13-15 mm, spreading, corolla of cleistogamous flowers 4-5 mm long, terete, constricted just above base, fugacious, lobes ciliate, not spreading; filaments, ca. 8.5 mm and 4.3 mm long, anthers white, pubescent on their dorsal surface; ovary in open flowers glabrous except for a few glandular trichomes at apex, ovules ca. 13, in 2 rows in each locule, style pale blue, ca. 21 mm long, sparsely pubescent, stigma ca. 1.9 mm long. Capsule cylindric, 17-23.5 x 3 mm, glabrous except for a few glandular trichomes on light-colored, arrow-shaped area near apex, exploding on contact with water; seeds ca. 20-26, each 2-2.5 mm in diam.
More
Herbs to 45 cm tall, perennial, erect. Roots with elongate tuberlike swellings. Stems slightly swollen above nodes, almost 4-angled, strigulose on angles. Petiole to 8 mm, glabrous; leaf blade oblong-obovate, 4-8 × 1.5-4.2 cm, both surfaces glabrous, veins abaxially somewhat prominent, base cuneate and tapering onto petiole, margin undulate to subentire, apex acute. Inflorescences axillary, lax dichotomous cymes; peduncle to 2.3 cm; bracts oblong-lanceolate, to 3-9 × 1-3 mm; bracteoles linear-oblong, to 1.5 mm. Pedicel 6-10 mm, minutely pilose. Calyx tube to 6 mm, outside tomentose; lobes linear-lanceolate, 0.9-2 cm. Corolla pale blue, 2.2-5.5 cm, outside hirtellous; lobes suborbicular, ca. 1.6 × 1.5 cm. Stamens with longer pair ca. 8 mm and shorter pair ca. 4 mm; filaments glabrous; anther thecae white, hairy on dorsal side. Ovary glabrous except for a few gland-tipped trichomes at apex; style ca. 2.1 cm, sparsely hirsute; stigma 2-lamellate. Capsule not stipitate, linear-ellipsoid, 1.8-2.5 × 0.3-0.4 cm, glabrous except for a few gland-tipped trichomes at apex, 20-26-seeded; septa with attached retinacula remaining attached to inner wall of mature capsule. Seeds discoid, ca. 2 × 2 mm, covered with appressed hygroscopic trichomes. Fl. Dec-Jan, fr. May-Jul. 2n = 32, 34.
A herb. It can be upright or lie over. It is about 30 cm high. The roots are long and fleshy. It has 1 or 2 main branches. They are 4 angled. The leaves are 4-8 cm long by 2-4 cm wide. The flowers are in the axils of leaves. The flowers are blue and purple. The fruit is a cylinder shaped capsule 17-24 mm long and 3 mm wide. It explodes on contact with water. There are 20-26 seeds. These are 2-2.5 mm wide.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.45 - 0.6
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 -

Environment

It is a tropical plant. In southern China it grows in disturbed sites below 100 m above sea level. In Java it grows to 150 m above sea level. In Yunnan.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 5-7
Soil texture 1-2
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The roots have a slightly pungent taste when fresh but are less so when dry.
Uses environmental use medicinal
Edible roots
Therapeutic use Antiseptic (unspecified), Bladder (unspecified), Bronchitis (unspecified), Constipation (unspecified), Cystitis (unspecified), Depurative (unspecified), Diaphoretic (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Emetic (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Flu (unspecified), Gonorrhea (unspecified), Pertussis (unspecified), Venereal (unspecified), Anodyne (unspecified), Leprosy (unspecified), Purgative (unspecified), Stone (unspecified), Oliguria (unspecified), Diuretics (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds, suckers or cuttings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 30 - 60
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 23
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Ruellia tuberosa habit picture by richard gautier (cc-by-sa)
Ruellia tuberosa habit picture by Asim Kumar Mishra (cc-by-sa)
Ruellia tuberosa habit picture by Trap Hers (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Ruellia tuberosa leaf picture by R RK (cc-by-sa)
Ruellia tuberosa leaf picture by raul antonio charris caña (cc-by-sa)
Ruellia tuberosa leaf picture by Uwe Rosenke (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Ruellia tuberosa flower picture by Tutty Lee (cc-by-sa)
Ruellia tuberosa flower picture by Arvind Kulkarni (cc-by-sa)
Ruellia tuberosa flower picture by Pratik Borsadiya (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Ruellia tuberosa fruit picture by Rajendra Rajendra Choure (cc-by-sa)
Ruellia tuberosa fruit picture by Rajendra Rajendra Choure (cc-by-sa)
Ruellia tuberosa fruit picture by Trap Hers (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Ruellia tuberosa world distribution map, present in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bangladesh, Bahamas, Barbados, China, Colombia, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Guatemala, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Saint Lucia, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Myanmar, Montserrat, Martinique, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Sudan, South Sudan, Suriname, Seychelles, Turks and Caicos Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Tanzania, United Republic of, United States of America, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:54671-1
WFO ID wfo-0000401309
COL ID 4TNMP
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 630581
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Dipteracanthus clandestinus Cryphiacanthus barbadensis Ruellia clandestina Ruellia tuberosa