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, with over 900 accepted species. 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.
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.
Lepidagathis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. It includes 151 species native to the tropics of the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, south and southeast Asia, southern China, Malesia, and New Guinea.
Stenandrium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae native to the Americas, with 50 species of perennial herbs ranging from the southern United States to northern Argentina and central Chile.
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 dhofarensis is a species of plant in the family Acanthaceae. It is a shrub that grows to around 5m tall and is found in Oman and Yemen. Blepharis dhofarensis grows on wet escarpment woodlands and it prefers dense thickets on steep slopes. It is threatened by habitat loss. Recent molecular work has placed it in the genus Acanthus instead of Blepharis.
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.
Isoglossa is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. It includes 78 species native to tropical Africa, Yemen, the eastern Himalayas, southern China, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Java, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and New South Wales.
Pseuderanthemum is a genus of plants in family Acanthaceae with a pantropical distribution.
Whitfieldia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. It includes 13 species of erect or scrambling shrubs native to tropical Africa. The greatest species diversity is in the Guineo-Congolian rainforests of western and central Africa.
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.
Tetramerium is a genus of plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae. It is found in the Americas, ranging from the southwestern United States to Bolivia, especially in tropical dry forests. Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck first described the genus in 1846 after collecting two species on the journey of HMS Sulphur.
Dyschoriste is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. It includes 98 species native to the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern Asia. Members of the genus are commonly known as snakeherb.
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.
Rhaphidospora is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae. A classification of the Acanthaceae published in 2022 treats Rhaphidospora as a synonym of Justicia.
