Justicia polygonoides Kunth
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Authority
Leonard, Emery C. 1958. The Acanthaceae of Colombia, III. Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 31: 323-781.
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Family
Acanthaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Description - Herbs or suffrutescent plants up to 1 meter high; stems ascending, usually much branched, subquadrangular, hirtellous, the hairs more or less curved, up to 0.75 mm. long, usually arranged in two rows; leaf blades lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, up to 12 cm. long and 4 cm. wide, acute or short-acuminate (the tip itself obtuse), acute to obtuse at base, bright green, moderately firm, entire, both surfaces glabrous or the costa and lateral veins (4 to 6 pairs) hirtellous, the hairs curved, about 0.5 mm. long, the venation rather prominent beneath, less so above, the cystoliths more or less conspicuous under a lens, up to 0.28 mm. long; petioles up to 10 mm. long, glabrous to moderately hirtellous; spikes terminal and axillary, slender, rather lax (the internodes about 5 mm. long), up to 14 cm. long and 5 mm. broad, the peduncles slender, up to 15 mm. long, these and the radiuses puberulous in two lines; bracts subulate or narrowly lanceolate, 3.5 mm. long, 1 mm. wide at base, narrowed into a slender tip, ciliate, the costa prominent; bractlets subulate, 3 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide at base, sparingly ciliate; calyx 4-parted, deeply segmented, rather sparingly hirtellous, the segments narrowly lanceolate, 5.5 to 7 mm. long, 0.75 mm. wide, acuminate, ciliate; corolla, violet-pink or rose, minutely hirtellous (the hairs about 0.1 mm. long, straight or slightly curved), 11 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad at base, enlarged to 1.75 mm. at 2 mm. above base and again narrowed to 1.25 mm. at 5 mm. above base, the throat 2.25 mm. broad, the upper lip erect, ovate, 5 mm. long, 2 mm. wide, rounded at tip, the lower lip cuneate, more or less spreading, 5 mm. long, 4 mm. wide near tip, 3-lobed, the lobes ovate, about 1.25 mm. long and wide, rounded; stamens exserted about 2 mm. beyond the mouth of the corolla, the filaments glabrous, the anther cells slightly superposed, the uppermost and larger cell 1.25 mm. long, attached somewhat obliquely, the lower (0.75 mm. long) attached vertically, both cells glabrous; capsules clavate, 1 cm. long, 3 mm. broad, 1.5 mm. thick, the retinacula unguiform, 1.25 mm. long, rounded and thin at tip; seeds (immature) suborbicular, flattened, tuberculate.
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Discussion
Justicia polygonoides occurs at elevations between 75 and 1,400 meters. The leaf blades of Holton's 594 are much wider than those of typical specimens. Haught states that the leaves of his No. 4953 were red beneath. Humboldt's type had white flowers lined with violet and calyces with 5 segments. In other respects both the description and photograph of his type agree reasonably well with the material cited here, Nees, in his description of Rhytiglossa polygonoides, states definitely that the calyces are 4-parted, as they are in all of the specimens I have seen. Since the bracts and calyx segments are quite similar it would be easy to mistake the number of segments. The corollas of the species are typically violet or pink. J. polygonoides may be closely related to the Mexican J. breviflora, a species usually with much larger flowers, broader leaf blades, and larger heavier spikes.