Ruellia ciliatiflora

Wiggins 1964, Daniel 1984, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Erect perennial forb from a woody caudex, 30-50 cm; sparsely pubescent with flexuous trichomes about 2.5 mm long, sometimes with dense understory of straight trichomes and glands. Leaves: Opposite, petiolate, ovate to broadly ovate 10-17 cm long, long attenuate to truncate-attentuate at base, rounded to subacute at apex, margin undulate-crisped, surfaces pubescent. Flowers: Tubular, purple, slightly irregular, 3 cm long, in loose, open terminal panicles; corolla 30-50 mm long, lobes 10-12 mm long. Fruits: Capsule ellipsoid, 12-22 mm long, glandular. Ecology: Found in sandy washes and ditches, in desert scrub and desert grassland from 1,500-4,500 ft (457-1372 m); flowers April-September. Distribution: Ranges from Arizona to Louisiana, south through much of Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica. Notes: Distinguished by the broad, opposite ovate leaves with defined veins, quite unlike the other species in Acanthaceae in our area, which are generally more lanceolate; the purple tubular flws, stipitate glandular calyces and explosively dehiscent capsules. Etymology: Ruellia is named after Jean Ruelle, a French botanist (1474-1537). Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015