Ruellia prostrata Poir.

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Pokoteke Gorge, near Masvingo

Photo: Bart Wursten
By road from Sinamatella to Mandavu Dam, Hwange NP

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Synonyms:	Dipteracanthus prostratus (Poir.) Nees Ruellia otaviensis auct. Ruellia patula Jacq. var. prostrata (Poir.) Chiov.
Common names:
Frequency:	Frequent
Status:	Native
Description:	Erect or decument perennial herb, up to c. 50 cm tall, sometimes scrambling and taller. Stems several, growing from a woody rootstock, variously pubescent or with more or less spreading hairs. Leaves opposite, elliptic, lanceolate to more or less broadly ovate, 4-10 cm long, usually pointed at the apex, almost hairless or pubescent, most densely so along the veins; petiole up to 2.5 cm long. Flowers axillary, solitary or 2-3 together; bracts lanceolate to broadly ovate, 7-23 mm long. Calyx 9-25 mm long, divided almost to the base; lobes filiform, ciliate-hairy. Corolla white, mauve or purple, short-lived; tube 14-28 mm long with cylindric part much shorter than the throat; lobes more or less broadly elliptic, 6-16 mm long and up to 15 mm wide; margin entire to crenate-dentate. Capsule narrowly oblanceolate or clavate, 15-24 mm long, finely velvety.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	prostrate: lying done or prostrate, even though plants are usually more or less weakly erect.
Habitat:	In a wide variety of grassland and woodland habitats.
Altitude range: (metres)	Up to 1500 m
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Also in Yemen, Oman, India, Sri Lanka, New Guinea and western Pacific Islands; possibly introduced in Southeast Asia.
Zimbabwe distribution:	N,W,C,E,S
Growth form:
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects (whose larvae eat this species):
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Friday 1 June 2012
Literature:	Mapaura, A & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 15. as Ruellia otaviensis Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 19. Vollesen, K. (2009). Acanthaceae (Part 1) FTEA Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Pages 204 - 206. (Includes a picture).

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Other sources of information about Ruellia prostrata:

Flora of Mozambique: Ruellia prostrata
African Plant Database: Ruellia prostrata
Biodiversity Explorer (Biodiversity of southern Africa): Ruellia prostrata
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Ruellia prostrata
ePIC (electronic Plant Information Center): Ruellia prostrata
Flora Zambesiaca web site: Ruellia prostrata
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
GRIN (Germplasm Resources Information Network) taxonomy for plants report for Ruellia prostrata
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Ruellia prostrata
JSTOR Plant Science: Ruellia prostrata
Kew Herbarium catalogue: Ruellia prostrata
Tropicos: Ruellia prostrata
West African Plants database: Ruellia prostrata