ACANTHACEAE

Ruellia prostrata

Prostrated Ruellia

Wildflowers

Local Context

Recorded in the riverine area near Jack's Causeway and it generally prefers shade on sandy loam or rocky soils

Identification

Growth: Erect to lying down (decumbent) perennial herb or subshrub up to 1 m tall (rarely 1.5 m), often with a woody rootstock.
Flowers: White, mauve, deep blue, or purple, shaped like a funnel or tube (up to 3 cm long) with spreading lobes, typically falling early in the morning.
Leaves: Lance-shaped to broadly egg-shaped or elliptic up to 14.5 cm long, usually with a pointed tip (more so than R. patula).
Texture: Leaves are nearly smooth to sparsely hairy (densest on veins), while the thread-like flower sepals and capsules are noticeably hairy.
Fruit: Club-shaped capsule up to 2.4 cm long, covered in fine or silky hairs.

Did You Know?

This plant is easy to establish in a Lowveld garden from a tiny cutting. The plant dies down in winter, but grows back fast from the woody root after the first rains (or when watering regularly).

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