Justicia secunda Vahl
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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 - Suffrutescent; stems subquadrangular, glabrous or sparingly puberulous, the hairs retrorsely curved, subappressed; leaf blades ovate to oblong-ovate, up to 15 cm. long and 6 cm. wide, acute to short-acuminate (the tip itself acute), subcordate, rounded, obtuse or acute at base, sometimes obliquely so, moderately firm, entire or undulate, both surfaces glabrous except the costa and lateral veins (6 to 8 pairs), these more prominent beneath than above, puberulous with recurved hairs about 0.2 mm. long; petioles slender, up to 2 cm. long, the channels puberulous with minute curved hairs; panicles terminal, small at first but becoming large and much branched, up to 17 cm. long and 8 cm. broad, the flowers secund and crowded on the branches of the panicles or distant (5 to 7 mm.) with age, the rachises moderately puberulous with curved hairs; bracts subulate or narrowly triangular, glabrous or sparingly hirtellous, keeled, the lowermost pairs about 7 mm. long, the succeeding bracts subtending the flowers triangular, 1.5 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide at base, sharply acute, the lower branches of the panicles subtended by small narrow leaf blades; bractlets subulate, up to 2 mm. long and 0.25 mm. wide at base; calyx up to 7 mm. long, deeply segmented, hirtellous with a mixture of glandular hairs (0.08 mm. long) and eglandular ones (up to 0.3 mm. long), the segments of the calyx oblong-lanceolate, 1.25 mm, wide, acute, thin and herbaceous, ciliate; corollas dull crimson, 3 cm. long, the upper portions sparingly puberulous, some of the hairs glandular, the tube about 12 mm. long and 3 mm. broad, the lips subequal, 22 mm. long, the upper one erect, narrowly ovate, about mm. wide near base, rounded and entire at tip, the lower lip spreading, oblong, about 6 mm. wide, 3-lobed at tip, the lobes ovate, 2.5 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, rounded at tip; stamens lying in upper lip and barely reaching its tip, the filaments glabrous; anther lobes subparallel, subequally attached by a connective 0.5 mm. broad, one lobe 2 mm. long, the other 1.5 mm. long, both about 0.5 mm. broad; style slightly shorter than the stamens, sparingly and minutely hirtellous, the stigma minute and subcapitate; capsule short-clavate, about 1 cm. long, 4.5 mm. broad, 2.5 mm. thick (the solid stipitate portion 5 mm. long, 0.5 mm. thick and 2.5 mm. broad) puberulous, some of the hairs gland-ular; retinacula 2 mm. long, the tip thin, erose, subcucullate; seeds 4, glabrous, slightly roughened.
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Discussion
Justicia secunda, common in the West Indies but rare in Colombia, is very closely related to Lindau's J. filibracteolata. Superficially the two species resemble each other very closely, differing in the shorter bracts and bractlets of J. secunda. In J. filibracteolata the panicles usually remain compact and the branches of the inflorescence do not tend to become elongated as in J. secunda.