Ruellia simplex

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:ACANTHACEAE
Species:Ruellia simplex C. Wright
Common Name:Britton's Wild Petunia; Mexican Bluebell
Habitat:Wet roadside ditches, disturbed areas. Rare escape from cultivation.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:Britton's Wild Petunia is an introduced herbaceous perennial in the Acanthus family (Acanthaceae). It is native to Mexico, the West Indies, and Central and South America. In Alabama it is cultivated as an ornamental and has escaped in the southern half of the state. Britton's Wild Petunia occurs in wet roadside ditches, around the margin of ponds and lakes, along streams, and in urban forests. It is a perennial from elongate rhizomes. Stems are erect, to 3 feet in height, green or purplish in color, glabrous, and can become woody towards the base. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, linear lanceolate in outline, glabrous, with entire or undulate margins. The leaves have prominently raised veins on the lower surface and are dark green or purplish in color. Flowers are produced in a few-flowered thyrse or panicle from the axils of the upper leaves. The calyx is deeply 5-lobed and green in color. The corolla is funnelform with 5 rounded lobes. Flowers are typically purple in color, but cultivars are available in blue, pink, or white. The fruit is a capsule containing 4-20 seed. Britton's Wild Petunia prefers a moist to wet soil with full sun, but is adaptable to other conditions. It can be propagated by cuttings, seed, or by dividing larger clumps. Britton's Wild Petunia is listed as an invasive species in several states as well as counties in Asia and Africa. When used in the home landscape choose sterile cultivars and contain the plant to pots to prevent spread by rhizomes. Care should be taken to properly dispose of any discarded clippings.—A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native, FAC (DEP), FAC (NWI)
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyACANTHACEAE - Acanthus family
Genus Ruellia
Species Ruellia simplex C. Wright - Britton's Wild Petunia; Mexican Bluebell

Citation

Citation Ruellia simplex C. Wright, Anales Acad. Ci. Med. Habana 6(41): 321. 1870.
Basionym: **
Type: CUBA: Pinar del Río: El Salado, Mun. San Cristobal and Palacios, s.d., Wright 3642 (holotype: NY).

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Arrhostoxylon microphyllum Arrhostoxylon microphyllum Nees von Esenbeck, in Martius, Fl. Bras. 9: 22. 1847. TYPE: URUGUAY: Montevideo: Near St. Lucia, s.d., Sellow s.n. (holotype: B(destroyed)).
Cryphiacanthus angustifolius Cryphiacanthus angustifolius Nees von Esenbeck, in de Candolle, Prodr. 11: 199. 1847. TYPE: ARGENTINA: Entre Rios: Without data, Tweedie s.n. (lectotype: K). Lectotypified by Ezcurra, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 80: 812. 1993.
Ruellia angustifolia Ruellia angustifolia (Nees von Esenbeck) Lindau, in Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 4(3b): 311. 1895, non Swartz 1788.BASIONYM: Cryphiacanthus angustifolius Nees von Esenbeck 1847. 
Ruellia brittoniana Ruellia brittoniana Leonard, J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 31: 96. 1941, nom. illegit.BASIONYM: Ruellia tweediana Grisebach 1879; Cryphiacanthus angustifolius Nees von Esenbeck 1847. 
Ruellia coerulea Ruellia coerulea Morong, in Morong & Britton, Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 7: 193. 1893. TYPE: PARAGUAY: Pilcomayo River, 1888-1890, Morong 1013 (holotype: NY; isotypes: MO, US).
Ruellia ignorantiae Ruellia ignorantiae Herter, Revista Sudamer. Bot. 4: 193. 1937.BASIONYM: Arrhostoxylon mcirophyllum Nees von Esenbeck 1847. 
Ruellia longipes Ruellia longipes Urban, Symb. Antill. 9: 129. 1923. TYPE: CUBA: Camaguey: Near Camaguey, 11 Apr 1917, Ekman 8601 (holotype: HAC; isotype: S).
Ruellia malacosperma Ruellia malacosperma Greenman, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 34: 572. 1899. TYPE: MEXICO: Tamaulipas: Tampico, 30 Apr 1898, Pringle 6806 (lectotype: GH; isolectotypes: BM, F, L, LL, MEXU, MIN, NSW, NY, PR, PRC, S, UC, US). Lectotypified by T. F. Daniel, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 55: 782. 2004.
Ruellia microphylla Ruellia microphylla (Nees von Esenbeck) Lindau, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 19(Beibl. 48): 16. 1894, non Cavanilles 1801.BASIONYM: Arrhostoxylon microphyllum Nees von Esenbeck 1847. 
Ruellia spectabilis Ruellia spectabilis Britton, in Morong & Britton, Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 7: 192. 1893, nom. illegit. et non G. Nicholson 1886.BASIONYM: Ruellia tweediana Grisebach 1879; Cryphiacanthus angustifolius Nees von Esenbeck 1847. 
Ruellia tweediana Ruellia tweediana Grisebach, Abh. Königl. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen 24: 249. 1879.Cryphiacanthus angustifolius Nees von Esenbeck 1847. 

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Baldwin, Barbour, Coffee, Crenshaw, Geneva, Houston, Mobile, Montgomery, Russell

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AUA, BRIT, TROY, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: -

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.		 Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used		 Image
UWAL0033102 Houston 06 Dec 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
27102		 UWAL
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
BRIT67709 Mobile 20 Sep 1975 Kral, Robert
56595		 BRIT
Ruellia coerulea Morong
UWAL0039191 Coffee 09 Nov 2018 Diamond, Alvin R.
28629		 UWAL
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
UWAL0030844 Mobile 20 Sep 1975 Kral, Robert
56595		 UWAL
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
UWAL0039801 Crenshaw 04 Oct 2016 Diamond, Alvin R.
27694		 UWAL
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
TROY000047556 Mobile 19 Oct 2018 Diamond, Alvin R.
28563		 TROY
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
AUA000025448 Russell 4 Oct 1994 Freeman, John D.
 AUA
Ruellia Simplex C. Wright
UWAL0033229 Montgomery 15 Nov 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
27058		 UWAL
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
UWAL0039259 Mobile 19 Oct 2018 Diamond, Alvin R.
28563		 UWAL
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
TROY000047502 Barbour 16 Dec 2018 Diamond, Alvin R.
28647		 TROY
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
TROY000043387 Montgomery 15 Nov 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
189		 TROY
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
TROY000047535 Coffee 09 Nov 2018 Diamond, Alvin R.
28629		 TROY
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
TROY000044863 Geneva 14 Sep 2017 Byrd, Cameron
1540		 TROY
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
TROY000043798 Houston 06 Dec 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
27102		 TROY
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
ALNHS00003611 Baldwin 10 Dec 2015 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#2127		 ALNHS
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
UWAL0039230 Barbour 16 Dec 2018 Diamond, Alvin R.
28647		 UWAL
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
TROY000044379 Crenshaw 04 Oct 2016 Diamond, Alvin R.
27694		 TROY
Ruellia simplex C. Wright
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