Bald Ruellie
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Bald Ruellie ( Ruellia strepens ) |
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The bald Ruellia ( Ruellia strepens ) is a species of the genus Ruellia ( Ruellia ) in the Acanthus family (Acanthaceae).
features
The Kahle Ruellie is a perennial , herbaceous plant or a dwarf shrub . It reaches heights of growth of up to 120 centimeters. The angular stem is glabrous or only sparsely hairy during the fruiting period. The opposite leaves are simple and petiolate. They are up to 15 inches long and 6 inches wide and broadly lanceolate to broadly ovate. The leaf margin is usually smooth or slightly notched. The leaf stalks are up to 1.5 inches long.
The flowers stand individually or in pairs in the leaf axils. The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold. The five green sepals are 5 millimeters long and fused at their base. The light blue to purple colored crown is up to 5 inches long and 4 inches wide. The five corolla lobes are up to 2 centimeters long and lanceolate. The central rib of the corolla lobes is purple. There are four fertile stamens . The white stamens are 1.3 inches long and the yellow anthers are 3 millimeters long. Two carpels have become a top permanent ovary grown. The stylus ends in a two-lobed scar.
A single flower only blooms for one day, but a plant keeps producing new flowers for a long time. The flowering period extends from August to September (in Missouri from May to October).
The brown, 2 centimeter long capsule fruits open explosively.
Occurrence
The bald ruellie occurs in the warm to warm temperate eastern and central North America in alluvial forests.
Systematics
A few forms are known, Julian Alfred Steyermark (in Flora of Missouri, Iowa State University Press, 1963) lists three:
- Ruellia strepens f. strepens
- Ruellia strepens f. alba Steyermark: With a white crown.
- Ruellia strepens f. cleistantha (Gray) McCoy: She is cleistogamous .
use
The bald ruellie is rarely used as an ornamental plant in borders, natural gardens and groups of trees.
supporting documents
- Eckehardt J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Rothmaler excursion flora from Germany. Volume 5: Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Berlin Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 .
- Description and detailed pictures at missouriplants.com.
