Ruellia strepens

Family:ACANTHACEAE
Species:Ruellia strepens L.
Common Name:Limestone Wild Petunia
Habitat:Mesic woodlands over limestone, rocky stream banks.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:RUST2
Plant Notes:Limestone Wild Petunia is a native perennial in the Acanthus family (Acanthaceae). It is found in rich woods and along streams in areas underlain by limestone. It Alabama it is most common in the Black Belt area of central Alabama and the Tennessee Valley of north Alabama. It is a perennial from tough, cord-like roots. Each root mass produces 1 or more up-right stems from 1-3 feet in height. The stems are green in color, slightly angled, and pubescent to nearly glabrous. The stems are occasionally branched in the upper half. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate to elliptic in outline, entire, and pubescent or glabrous. Flowers are produced in the axils of the middle and upper leaves. The flowers are in glomerules of 1-5. The calyx lobes are lanceolate and glandular pubescent. Flowers are funnelform and pinkish purple to blue in color. The corolla has 5 rounded lobes and an undulate margin. Individual flowers last for a single day, and are easily detached. The fruit is a capsule. Limestone Wild Petunia is a larval host plant for Buckeye Butterflies (Junonia coenia). Limestone Wild Petunia is occasionally available from wildflower nurseries. It is the largest members of the genus in Alabama. Limestone Wild Petunia prefers light shade and moist, organic rich soil that is basic or neutral in pH.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Native
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 strepens L. - Limestone Wild Petunia

Citation

Citation Ruellia strepens Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 634. 1753.
Basionym: **
Type: Without data, Clayton 85 (lectotype: BM). Lectotypification by J.L. Reveal & C.E. Jarvis, Taxon 58(3): 981. 2009.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Dipteracanthus micranthus    
Dipteracanthus strepens Dipteracanthus strepens (Linnaeus) Nees, Del. Sem. Hort. Vratisl. A. 1841: [3]. 1842.Ruellia strepens Linnaeus 
Ruellia strepens var. cleistantha Ruellia strepens Linnaeus var. cleistantha A. Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 2(1): 327. 1878.  
Ruellia strepens var. micrantha    

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: Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Dallas, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Limestone, Lowndes, Madison, Marengo, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Pickens, St. Clair, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Washington, Wilcox

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, BRIT, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, UNAF, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1898 - 2019

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
UWAL0046942 Autauga 11 Apr 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
619
UWAL
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
TROY000046576 Autauga 11 Apr 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
619
TROY
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
TROY000049569 Autauga 08 Jun 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
916a
TROY
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
TROY000049697 Autauga 24 Aug 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1144
TROY
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
USAM000000683 Baldwin 25 Oct 1980 LeLong, Michel G.
11783
USAM
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
USAM000000684 Baldwin 25 Oct 1980 LeLong, Michel G.
11773
USAM
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
BRIT67836 Baldwin 15 Nov 1980 Lelong, Michel G.
11879
BRIT
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
USAM000000717 Baldwin 15 Nov 1980 LeLong, Michel G.
11899
USAM
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
USAM000000718 Baldwin 15 Nov 1980 LeLong, Michel G.
11879
USAM
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
USAM000000716 Baldwin 15 Nov 1980 LeLong, Michel G.
11879
USAM
Ruellia strepens Linnaeus
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