| Ruspolia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ruspolia seticalyx | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Acanthaceae |
| Genus: | Ruspolia Lindau (1895) |
Ruspolia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae. [1]
A genus of shrubby herbs or shrubs. [2] [3] [4] The leaves are arranged opposite, [3] [5] they have visible linear cystoliths. [2] The flowers are in spikes or panicles, [3] or in 3-7-flowered, [5] cymules aggregated into long raceme-like cymes. [2] The flower has bracts and bracteoles (small bracts) that are narrow and inconspicuous. [3] The flower calyx is deeply 5-lobed, [2] [3] [4] with narrow, [3] or linear-lanceolate or filiform (thread-like) shaped lobes. [2] Sometimes with thread-like tips. [3] The corolla-tube is narrowly cylindrical, [3] and long and linear. [2] [4] it is divided into 5 subequal lobes, [3] which are spreading or reflexed. [2] The corolla (petals of the flower) are usually red, but may be salmon-pink, scarlet or orange-red. They are also hairy and sometimes glandular, on the outside. [2] It has 2 stamens which are just exserted (projected beyond the corolla-tube). [2] [3] They have anthers which are 1-celled. The ovary is 2-celled with 2 ovules in each cell or loculus. [2] [3] Meaning it has 2-4-seeds. It has a filiform (thread-like) shaped style. [3] The fruit or seed capsule is club-shaped, [3] with solid stalk-like basal part. [2] Inside the capsule, the seeds are smooth and glabrous or variously ornamented. [3] They are situated on prominent hook-shaped retinaculas (thick fibres), without hygroscopic hairs. [2]
It has a chromosome count of 2n=21 [6]
Its native range is Tropical Africa, southern Africa and Madagascar. It is found in Angola, Botswana, [2] Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa (in KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Provinces) Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre and Zimbabwe. [1]
Lowland and medium elevation woodland, bushland and dry forests. [7]
The genus name of Ruspolia is in honour of Eugenio Ruspoli (1866–1893), an Italian explorer and naturalist. [8] It was first described and published in H.G.A.Engler & K.A.E.Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. Vol.4 (Issue 3b) on page 354 in 1895. [1] The genus was recognized on 23 January 2009, by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service, but they do not list any known species. [9]
According to Kew: [1]
GRIN accepts just Ruspolia hypocrateriformis(Vahl) Milne-Redh. and Ruspolia seticalyx(C. B. Clarke) Milne-Redh.. [9] Other sources claim that there are up to 6 species [6] Flora of Zimbabwe notes 5 species in Africa and Madagascar, (3 within Zimbabwe: Ruspolia australis, Ruspolia decurrens and Ruspolia seticalyx). [10]
Ruspolia hypocrateriformis (or 'Red Ruspolia'), is used as a garden shrub in South Africa and Namibia. [11]
Acanthaceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in temperate regions. The four main centres of distribution are Indonesia and Malaysia, Africa, Brazil, and Central America. Representatives of the family can be found in nearly every habitat, including dense or open forests, scrublands, wet fields and valleys, sea coast and marine areas, swamps, and mangrove forests.
Justicia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. It is the largest genus within the family, encompassing around 700 species with hundreds more as yet unresolved. They are native to tropical to warm temperate regions of the Americas, India, and Africa. The genus serves as host to many butterfly species, such as Anartia fatima. Common names include water-willow and shrimp plant, the latter from the inflorescences, which resemble a shrimp in some species. The generic name honours Scottish horticulturist James Justice (1698–1763). They are closely related to Pachystachys.
Acanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical and warm temperate regions, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean Basin and Asia. This flowering plant is nectar producing and is susceptible to predation by butterflies, such as Anartia fatima, and other nectar feeding organisms. Common names include Acanthus and bear's breeches. The generic name derives from the Greek term ἄκανθος (akanthos) for Acanthus mollis, a plant that was commonly imitated in Corinthian capitals.
Hygrophila, commonly known as swampweeds, is a genus of flowering plants in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. There are about 80 to 100 species, of which many are aquatic plants. The genus is distributed across the tropical and subtropical world. It is one of only two genera in its family that contains aquatic plants, the other being Justicia. The genus is treated in the tribe Hygrophileae, which is noted as being in need of revision at the genus level, meaning the current taxonomic boundaries of Hygrophila are likely to change in the future.
Acanthopale is a plant genus of shrubs or subshrubs in the Acanthaceae plant family. The genus name is based on the classic Greek words for thorn ákantha and stake palum. Some species in the genus are cultivated as ornamental plants.
Anisotes is a genus of Afrotropical plants in the family Acanthaceae. The genus is morphologically similar to Metarungia, from which it differs mainly in the dehiscence of the fruit capsule, and the nature of the placenta. Placentas remain attached to the inner surface of fruit capsules in Anisotes.
Blepharis is a genus of plant in family Acanthaceae. It contains around 128 species found in seasonally dry to arid habitats from Africa through Arabia to Southeast Asia. In section Acanthodium, there are 13–15 species that use the C4 carbon fixation pathway. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that this pathway evolved up to three times independently in the genus over the last five million years.
Brachystephanus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. It includes 21 species native to tropical Africa and Madagascar.
Brillantaisia is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae. They are native to the African tropics and subtropics, including Madagascar. They may grow from 20 cm to 2 m in height. Their hirsute stems are square in cross-section and their heart-shaped leaves have an opposite arrangement. Their purple or white pea-like flowers produce long, cigar-shaped seed pods. They reproduce easily from seeds or vegetatively. One species, B. lamium, is invasive in Queensland.
Pseuderanthemum is a genus of plants in family Acanthaceae with a pantropical distribution.
Mimulopsis is a genus in the flowering plant family Acanthaceae with about 20 species native to tropical Africa and Madagascar.
Crossandra is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae, comprising 54 species that occur in Africa, Madagascar, Arabia and the Indian subcontinent. Some species, especially Crossandra infundibuliformis, are cultivated for their brightly colored flowers.
Acanthopale pubescens is a species of the genus Acanthopale of the family Acanthaceae. The species occurs in East and Southern Africa. Acanthopale pubescensis also known as Herayye in Ethiopia.
Anisotes pubinervius is an Afrotropical plant species in the acanthus family, which is native to forest understorey in the Afromontane archipelago. It is widespread in eastern Africa, with isolated populations in southern Africa and Nigeria. The species is named for the fine down that covers the main leaf veins (-nervia).
Ecbolium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. It includes 26 species native to southern and eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Indian subcontinent, and Myanmar.
Stenandriopsis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae. It includes 20 species native to tropical Africa and Madagascar. Molecular phylogenies have placed the Old World Stenandriopsis apart from New World Stenandrium, and the genus is accepted in a classification of the family Acanthaceae published in 2022.
Megalochlamys is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae.
Strobilanthopsis linifolia is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Acanthaceae. It is a perennial or shrub native to the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Angola. It is the sole species in genus Strobilianthopsis.
Hewittia malabarica is a flowering plant in the monotypic genus HewittiaWight & Arn., belonging to the family Convolvulaceae and widespread throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and Polynesia. It is a climbing or prostrate perennial herb with slender stems and flowers that are pale yellow, cream, or white with a purple center, and large leaves that can be used as a cooked vegetable or used in folk medicine with the roots. The stems can be used to make ropes.