Much like no. 1 [Justicia americana (L.) M. Vahl]; stems 2-6 dm; lvs lanceolate to elliptic or oblanceolate 3-10 נ1-2.5 cm, gradually or abruptly cuneate at base; peduncles 3-10 cm at anthesis; spike soon becoming elongate, the internodes longer than the cal of the fl just beneath; cal- lobes 7-10 mm, linear; terminal pollen-sac oblique; seeds smooth or nearly so, with a distinctly differentiated margin. In mud and shallow water; coastal plain from se. Va. to Fla. and Tex., n. in the Mississippi Valley to se. Mo. and sw. Ky. Ours is var. ovata. (J. humilis; Dianthera ovata)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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