Herbs up to 50 cm. long or more, erect or ascending, the stems subquadrangular, the upper portions hirtellous, the hairs curved, about 0.15 mm. long, arranged more or less in 2 lines, the lower portions of the stem glabrate, purplish, the lower internodes 2.5 mm. in diam- eter; leaf blades ovate to oblong-ovate, up to 7.5 cm. long and 3.1 cm. wide, acute or short-acuminate (the tip itself blunt), narrowed at base and decurrent on the petiole, moderately firm to membranous, entire, both surfaces glabrous or the costa and lateral nerves (7 or 8 pairs) rather conspicuous and sparingly hirtellous, the hairs curved, subappressed, up to 0.2 mm. long; petioles up to 1.5 cm. long, glabrous or sparingly hirtellous; flowers borne in terminal lax spikes or terminal panicles of lax spikes up to 10 cm. long and 3 cm. broad, the spikes up to 4 cm. long with rarely more than 4 flowers to each spike, the peduncles up to 5 cm. long, quadrangular (the angles sharp), bi- fariously hirtellous, the hairs upwardly curved, up to 0.2 mm. long, the lowermost internodes of the inflorescence up to 2 cm. long, the others successively shorter toward the tip of the inflorescence, all slender, sharply quadrangular, hirtellous with a mixture of small curved hairs about 0.1 mm. long and spreading stouter straight glandular ones up to 0.2 mm. long, the flowers sessile or borne on short pedicels up to 1 mm. long; bracts subulate, firm, up to 3 mm. long and 0.5 mm. wide at base, subcarinate, glabrous or sparingly ciliate near tip, the hairs rigid and toothlike, about 0.4 mm. long, the cysto- liths prominent; bractlets similar to the bracts but often slightly longer; calyx 7 to 8 mm. long, segmented nearly to base, the segments 4, narrowly lanceolate, 0.75 mm. wide near base, gradually narrowed to a slender tip, moderately hirtellous, the hairs slender, ascending, nearly straight, intermixed with a few spreading slightly longer and more rigid glandular ones, the cystoliths prominent; corollas pale lavender, sparingly and minutely pubescent, 11 mm. long, the tube 1.5 mm. broad near base, narrowed at 4 mm. above base to 1.25 mm., about 3 mm. broad at mouth, the lips subequal, the upper lip suberect, narrowly ovate, 2.5 mm. wide near base, gradually narrowed to a rounded bilobed tip 1 mm. wide, the lobes about 0.25 mm. long, the lower lip spreading, deeply 3-lobed, the lobes ovate, 4 mm. long, the middle lobe 3.5 mm. wide, the lateral ones 2.25 mm. wide, all rounded at tip; stamens barely reaching the mouth of the corolla tube, glabrous, the filaments slender, the anther lobes slightly super- posed, about 0.75 mm. long and 0.25 mm. thick, the upper lobe obliquely attached, the lower nearly vertical, minutely apiculate at base; capsules 4-seeded, clavate, 7 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, 1.5 mm. thick, rather sparingly and retrorsely puberulous, the retinacula 1 mm. long, slightly curved, thin and fimbriate at tip; seeds oval, slightly flattened, reddish brown, 1.5 mm. long, 1.25 mm. broad, about 0.25 mm. thick, oblique at base, minutely papillose. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 1517478, collected at La Sierra, 18 km. north of Medellín, Department of Antioquia, Colombia, 2,000 meters altitude, March 8, 1931, by W. A. Archer (No. 1640). Justicia archeri resembles J. leptophylla Leonard in many respects and is probably rather closely related to it. However, the paniculate inflorescence of J. archert, with its mixed pubescence of straight glandular hairs and shorter eglandular curved ones, differs from the usually spicate inflorescence of J. leptophylla, which has no glandular hairs.