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Family: Acanthaceae
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Justicia assurgens L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 850, 1759. Type locality: Jamaica. The specific epithet is from the Latin "assurgere," to rise up, in allusion to the ascending stems. Dicliptera assurgens Juss. in Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 9: 269. 1807. Based on Justicia assurgens L. Herbs up to 1 meter high; stems erect or ascending, up to 5 mm. thick toward base, hexagonal toward tip, sulcate, the angles narrowly winged, prominent, the internodes glabrous, the stipular lines bearing a few small hairs; leaf blades ovate, up to 5 cm. long and 2.5 cm. wide or the lowermost larger, all acute or short-acuminate at tip, narrowed at base and briefly decurrent on the petiole, both surfaces glabrous or the costa and lateral veins (4 or 5 pairs) bearing a few scattered hairs, the cystoliths rather prominent; petioles slender, up to 2 cm. long or more, the channel sparingly pubescent with small curved hairs; flowers usually solitary, more or less secund in lax spikes, these forming large terminal much branched panicles, the rachis glabrous or bearing a few minute scattered whitish disk-tipped hairs, the basal internodes 1 to 2 cm. long, the others successively shorter toward tip of branches, the branches of the panicles subtended by leaves similar to the main stem leaves but smaller, the flowers subtended by a pair of subulate bracts 1.5 mm. long and 0.5 mm. wide at base, glabrous or minutely ciliolate near base with papular hairs; involucre bracts 6, the two outermost lanceolate, 5 mm. long, 1 mm. wide at base, acuminate, puberulous, the papular hairs intermixed with a few typical ones about 0.25 mm. long, the margins of the bracts subhyaline, the 4 innermost segments lanceolate, 2.5 mm. long and 0.5 mm. wide, densely papillose, the papillae intermixed with occa- sional larger mushroom-like glandular hairs; calyx subhyaline, 2.5 mm. long, the segments triangular, 1 mm. long, acute, ciliate, the hairs about 115 long, the midrib of the bracts prominent, green; corollas red or orange-scarlet, finely pubescent, 3.5 cm. long, slightly curved, the tube 2 cm. long, 1.5 mm. broad at base, thence gradually enlarged to 6 mm. at mouth, the lips about equal, 1.5 cm. long and about 6 mm. wide at base, thence gradually narrowed to 1.5 mm. near tip, the upper lip erect, rounded and entire at tip, the lower lip recurved, 3-lobed at tip, the lobes low, about 0.75 mm. long, the middle one 0.5 mm. wide, the lateral ones somewhat narrower, all rounded; stamens reaching almost to the tip of the upper lip of the corolla, the filaments adhering to the dorsal portion of the tube to a distance of about 15 mm., minutely pilose, the hairs becoming less numerous towards the tip, the anthers oblong, 2.5 mm. long and 1.5 mm. wide; capsules oval, 6 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide, 1 mm. thick, the sides flattened, the basal portion solid and 1.5 mm. long, obtuse at tip, hirtellous, 2-seeded; seeds reddish brown, flattened, oval, about 2 mm. long and 1.5 mm. wide, the surface roughened, bearing numerous flat-tipped papilliform hairs; retinacula about 1 mm. long, subacute at tip. |