Blechum pyramidatum (Lam.) Urb.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Acanthaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect or decumbent herb, 20 to 50 cm tall, usually branching from near the base; stems slender, quadrangular, usually rooting at nodes, with lines of hairs along two of the sides. Leaf blades 1-3.5 x 0.7-1.8 cm, elliptic, ovate or lanceolate, chartaceous, covered with white, appressed hairs on both surfaces, the apex acute or obtuse, the base attenuate, obtuse or rounded, the margins entire or sinuate, and ciliate; petioles slender, 0.4-0.7 cm long. Flowers borne on dense, terminal spikes; bracts leaflike, ovate, chartaceous, green, pubescent, the margins with long white hairs. Calyx of 5 awl-shaped sepals, to 4 mm long; corolla pink, light mauve or lavender, 1-1.5 cm long, slightly projecting beyond the subtending bract, sparsely covered with minute, whitish hairs externally. Capsule 5-7 mm long, ellipsoid, slightly flattened, densely covered with short, whitish hairs, acuminate at apex, 12-16 seeded. Seeds ca. 1.5 mm long, lenticular, light brown and smooth.
Distribution and Ecology - Common throughout the island, in open areas. Ajax Peak (A2656), Francis Bay (W172-a), Johnson Bay (A2912). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; from Mexico to South America, including the West Indies, introduced to the Old World tropics.
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Discussion
Blechum brownei Juss., Ann. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. 9: 270. 1807.
Ruellia blechum L., Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 2: 1120. 1759. Blechum blechum (L.) Millsp., Publ. Field Columbian Mus., Bot. Ser., 2: 100. 1900