Suffrutescent plants up to 1 meter high; stems quadrangular or the lower parts subterete, glabrous or hirtellous at the nodes, the hairs rigid, up to 0.13 mm. long, mostly spreading; leaf blades oblong-ovate or oblong-elliptic, up to 21 cm. long and 9 cm. wide, short-acuminate, the tip often curved, narrowed at base and decurrent on the petiole, rather firm, entire or undulate, glabrous or the costa and veins sparingly and minutely hirtellous, the hairs rigid, up to 0.08 mm. long, the venation prominent beneath, less so above, the cystoliths obscure; petioles up to 1 cm. long, 1.5 mm. thick, glabrous or sparingly and minutely hirtellous; spikes solitary, terminal, dense or, at maturity, lax toward base, up to 5 cm. long and 15 mm. broad, the peduncles up to 2 cm. long, quadrangular, minutely and sparingly hirtellous, the rhachis minutely hirtellous, the hairs rigid, for the most part about 0.13 mm. long, or a few at the nodes as much as 0.32 mm. long, mostly spreading; bracts ovate, 4 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide near base, acute (the tip itself blunt), glabrous except the margins, these ciliolate with rigid spreading or ascending hairs up to 0.16 mm. long; bractlets lanceolate, 2.25 mm. long, 0.75 mm. wide, acute, glabrous except the ciliolate margins, both bracts and bractlets densely covered with thick conspicuous parallel cystoliths up to 0.13 mm. long; calyx 7-8 mm. long, the segments lanceolate, 6 mm. long, 1.75 mm. wide near base, gradually narrowed to a slender acute tip, and delicately 3-nerved at base, glabrous except the margins, these ciliolate, the cystoliths few, slender, rarely over 0.06 mm. long; corolla about 12 mm. long, lavender, densely hirtellous, the hairs rigid, spreading, up to 0.13 mm. long, the tube subcylindric, 2 mm. broad at mouth, the upper lip erect, oblong-ovate, emarginate at tip, the lower lip 3-lobed, the lobes oblong-ovate, rounded at tip, ciliolate; stamens slightly exserted but not extending beyond the corolla lips,

the anther lobes superposed, 1.25 mm. long and 0.75 mm. broad, the upper lobe obliquely, the lower vertically attached to the connective and obscurely subcaudate at base; capsules clavate, 18 mm. long, about 3 mm. broad and 2 mm. thick, minutely hirtellous, the hairs mostly spreading, rigid, up to 0.03 mm. long, some of them gland- tipped.

Type in the Gray Herbarium, collected on floor of rain forest along the Río Carare, Department of Santander, Colombia, 300 to 400 meters altitude, September 28, 1945, by W. H. Hodge (No. 6504). Isotype: Med. 

Justicia hodgei resembles and may be related to J. sterea. The latter species has, however, a forked spike and white corollas, these rather sparingly pubescent with slender hairs. In J. hodger the spikes are simple and the corollas are lavender and densely clothed with minute spreading rigid hairs. Because of the scarcity of material it was not desirable to dissect the single immature corolla and capsule.