Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ruellia humilis
FAMILY
Acanthaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read how taxonomy affects conservation decision-making from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Hairy Wild-petunia's form in NC is so different from others that it may represent a good species, or at least an undescribed variety/subspecies. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
This species badly needs taxonomic re-evaluation, looking at variation across its wide and fragmented distribution. Piedmont plants of NC and SC are uniformly white-flowered, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ruellia humilis
FAMILY
Acanthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Ruellia humilis
SYNONYMOUS WITH The Genera of Acanthaceae in the Southeastern US (Long, 1970)
Ruellia humilis
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 171-03-005:
Ruellia humilis FAMILY Acanthaceae
COMMON NAME:
Hairy Wild-petunia, Low Wild-petunia, Glade Wild-petunia, Fringeleaf Ruellia
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_ruhu_007_lvd
)
Eric Ungberg ung_20180529_130847
May Granville County NC
Picture Creek Diabase Barrens
)
JK Marlow jkm140603_347
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Flowers in axils of median & upper nodes, also usually from terminal cluster, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm140603_351
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm140603_355
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Stem typically branched at base. Leaves sessile or subsessile, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm140603_356
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm140603_356b
June Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Calyx lobes hirsute, linear-setaceous, 15-25mm long, less than 2mm wide, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_r_humilis_lowwildp_2
June
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_r_humilis_lowwildpe11
June
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ruellia humilis
FAMILY
Acanthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ruellia humilis
FAMILY
Acanthaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Ruellia humilis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
The Genera of Acanthaceae in the Southeastern US (Long, 1970)
Ruellia humilis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 171-03-005:
Ruellia humilis
FAMILY
Acanthaceae
2036
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: calcareous or mafic glades and woodlands, prairies, dry woodlands and fields, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves sessile to subsessile
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Blue-violet, white
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed funnelform corolla
4 included stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Brown/Yellow-brown
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p242
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p165
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p260
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p425
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p096
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p252
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p295
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p162
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".