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Family: Acanthaceae
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Herbs up to 1.6 meters high; stems erect, subquadrangular, in- conspicuously sulcate, both puberulous and pilose, the longer hairs mostly spreading, straight, up to 2.25 mm. long, septate but not conspicuously so, the smaller hairs recurved and subappressed, up to 0.28 mm. long; leaf blades lance-elliptic, up to 18 cm. long and 6 cm. wide, acute at tip, narrowed at base and briefly decurrent on the petiole, firm, undulate, the upper surface rather densely pilose, the hairs ascending, similar to those of the stem as are also the additional small curved hairs of the costa, the pubescence of the lower surface similar to that of the upper except for the absence of the small curved hairs on the costa, the margins ciliate, the venation of both surfaces (lateral veins 9 to 10 pairs) rather prominent, the veinlets coarsely reticulate but not conspicuously so, the cystoliths minute and obscure, sometimes lacking; petioles up to 1.5 cm. long, pilose; spikes axillary, several pairs produced at each node, up to 12 em. long and about 1 cm. broad, the flowers secund, rather crowded, erect or ascending; ped- uncles up to 1 cm. long, pilose; rachis both pilose with long spreading hairs and puberulous with short curved subappressed ones; dorsal bracts sterile, linear, pilose, the hairs up to 3.25 mm. long, mostly marginal, more or less spreading, brown; ventral bracts broadly ellip- tic obovate, long-cuspidate, 12 mm. long, 4 mm. wide, acuminate, rather firm, sparingly pilose and densely ciliate, the hairs more or less spreading, reddish brown, up to 3.25 mm. long; bractlets narrowly linear, 8 or 9 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide, rather densely ciliate, the hairs similar to those of the bracts; calyx 5 mm. long, deeply segmented, the segments 5, lanceolate, 3.5 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide near base, gradually narrowed to a slender tip, sparingly hirtellous and ciliate, the hairs ascending, up to 0.48 mm. long, the costa evident but rather obscure; corolla not seen; capsules clavate, about 10 mm. long, 3 mm. broad and 2 mm. thick, glabrous toward base, sparingly hirtellous toward tip, the hairs spreading or retrorse and subappressed, up to 0.2 mm. long; retinacula 1.5 mm. long, obtuse and more or less fimbriate at tip; seeds not seen. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 1482402, collected in thick low forest in the region of Mount Chapón, Department of Boyacá, Colombia, "3,500 feet" altitude, May 27, 1932, by A. E. Lawrance (No. 60). Isotype: GH. Justicia chaponensis is closely related to and resembles in some respects J. hyperdasya and J. pampolystachys. The leaf blades of these species are more of an ovate shape and the bracts subtending the flowers are larger, elliptic or suborbicular in shape, and obtuse and apiculate at the tip. No corollas could be found on either of the two sheets cited, but according to the label notes they were mauve with purple stripes. They are probably small in size and somewhat similar to those of the two related species. |