Justicia carthaginensis Jacq.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Acanthaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Justicia carthaginensis Jacq.

  • Description

    Species Description - Erect herb or subshrub to 1.5 m tall; stems cylindrical, with swollen, hairy collapsing nodes (when dried). Leaf blades 3-11 x 1.5-4.2 cm, elliptic, chartaceous, glabrous except for a few hairs along veins, with numerous cystoliths on both surfaces, the apex short or long acuminate, the base tapering, the margins re volute, entire or wavy and ciliate; petioles slender, 0.3-1 cm long. Flowers borne on dense axillary and terminal spikes; bracts spatulate. Calyx bell-shaped, with 5 deeply cleft, lanceolate-lineate sepals ca. 8 mm long; corolla reddish purple or violet, 3-4 cm long, with glandular hairs externally and often with whitish stripes within. Capsule 1.8 cm long, club-shaped or ellipsoid, strawcolored, minutely pubescent. Seeds 4, ca. 3 mm long, nearly globose, smooth, black or dark brown, shiny.

  • Discussion

    Justicia retusa Vahl, Symb. Bot. 2: 8. 1791; Enum. PL 1: 136. 1805.

  • Distribution

    Uncommon, found in open disturbed areas. Enighed (A3927). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; widespread throughout the West Indies, Central America, Colombia, and Venezuela.

    Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| West Indies| Central America| Colombia South America| Venezuela South America|