Ruellia

Ruellia is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as ruellias or wild petunias. They are not closely related to petunias (Petunia) although both genera belong to the same euasterid clade. The genus was named in honor of Jean Ruelle (1474–1537), herbalist and physician to Francis I of France and translator of several works of Dioscorides.
Apart from the numerous formerly independent genera nowadays considered synonymous with Ruellia, the segregate genera Blechum, Eusiphon, Polylychnis and Ulleria are often included in Ruellia. Acanthopale, however, is considered a distinct genus.
Ruellias are popular ornamental plants. Some are used as medicinal plants, but many are known or suspected to be poisonous. Their leaves are food for the caterpillars of several Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), typically Nymphalinae and in particular members of their tribe Junoniini, such as the larvae of the banded peacock (Anartia fatima). Nymphalinae using Ruellia as host plants include the common buckeye (Junonia coenia), recorded on R. nodiflora, the lemon pansy (Junonia lemonias), recorded on R. tuberosa, and the malachite butterfly (Siproeta stelenes) and Australian lurcher (Yoma sabina), which are recorded on several species.
Selected species
Ruellia acutangula
Ruellia affinis (Schrad.) Lindau
Ruellia angustior
Ruellia asperula
Ruellia blechum L.
Ruellia blumei Steud.
Ruellia bourgaei Hemsl.
Ruellia brevicaulis
Ruellia brevifolia (Pohl) C.Ezcurra – tropical wild petunia, red Christmas pride
Ruellia capitata
Ruellia caroliniensis (J.F.Gmel.) Steud.
Ruellia cernua Roxb.
Ruellia chartacea (T.Anderson) Wassh.
Ruellia ciliatiflora Hook.
Ruellia ciliosa Pursh
Ruellia colorata (might belong in R. trivialis)
Ruellia currorii
Ruellia densa
Ruellia devosiana Jacob-Makoy ex E.Morren
Ruellia dielsii
Ruellia diffusa
Ruellia dioscoridis
Ruellia dissitifolia
Ruellia drummondiana (Nees) A. Gray
Ruellia drymophila Hand.-Mazz.
Ruellia elegans Poir.
Ruellia eriocalyx
Ruellia eurycodon
Ruellia flava
Ruellia formosa
Ruellia fulgida Andrews
Ruellia geminiflora – ipecacuanha-da-flor-roxa (Portuguese)
Ruellia glanduloso-punctata
Ruellia hapalotricha
Ruellia helianthemum
Ruellia humilis Nutt. – fringeleaf wild petunia, plains petunia, fringeleaf ruellia, hairy ruellia, low ruellia, zigzag ruel
Ruellia hypericoides
Ruellia incomta
Ruellia insignis
Ruellia jaliscana Standl.
Ruellia kuriensis
Ruellia macrantha (Nees) Gower – Christmas pride
Ruellia macrophylla Vahl
Ruellia makoyana Hort.Makoy ex Closon
Ruellia mcvaughii T.F. Daniel
Ruellia menthoides
Ruellia neesiana
Ruellia nitens
Ruellia noctiflora
Ruellia novogaliciana T.F. Daniel
Ruellia nudiflora (Engelm. & A.Gray) Urb.
Ruellia patula
Ruellia paulayana
Ruellia pedunculata
Ruellia pohlii
Ruellia portellae (might belong in R. trivialis)
Ruellia prostrata Poir.
Ruellia puri
Ruellia rasa
Ruellia rosea (Nees) Hemsl.
Ruellia rufipila
Ruellia salicifolia
Ruellia simplex C.Wright
Ruellia sindica
Ruellia spissa Leonard
Ruellia squarrosa (Fenzl) Cufod.
Ruellia stemonacanthoides (Oerst.) Hemsl.
Ruellia stenandrium
Ruellia strepens L. (might belong in R. trivialis)
Ruellia tomentosa
Ruellia trachyphylla
Ruellia trivialis
Ruellia tuberosa L. – minnie root, fever root, snapdragon root, sheep potato, popping pod, duppy gun, cracker plant (syn. R. picta)
Ruellia verbasciformis
Ruellia villosa
Ruellia vindex
Ruellia zeylanica
Formerly placed here
Numerous plants, mainly in the family Acanthaceae, are former members of Ruellia. Some examples are:
Asystasia gangetica subsp. micrantha (Nees) Ensermu (as R. intrusa Forssk.)
Asystasia gangetica subsp. gangetica (as R. zeylanica J.Koenig ex Roxb.)
Blepharis ciliaris (L.) B.L.Burtt (as R. ciliaris L. or R. persica Burm.f.)
Dyschoriste oblongifolia (Michx.) Kuntze (as R. oblongifolia Michx.)
Hemigraphis repanda (L.) Hallier f. (as R. repanda L.)
Hygrophila costata Nees et al. (as R. brasiliensis Spreng.)
Hygrophila difformis (L.f.) Blume (as R. difformis L. f.)
Hygrophila lacustris (Schltdl. & Cham.) Nees (as R. lacustris Schltdl. & Cham.)
Hygrophila ringens (L.) R. Br. ex Steud. (as R. ringens L. or R. salicifolia Vahl)
Lepidagathis alopecuroidea (Vahl) R. Br. ex Griseb. (as R. alopecuroidea Vahl)
Lindernia antipoda (L.) Alston (as R. antipoda L.)
Stenandrium dulce (Cav.) Nees (as R. dulcis Cav.)
Strobilanthes anisophylla (Lodd. et al.) T. Anderson (as R. anisophylla Lodd. et al.)
Strobilanthes hamiltoniana (Steud.) Bosser & Heine (as R. hamiltoniana Steud.)
Teliostachya alopecuroidea Nees (as R. alopecuroidea, R. alopecuroides)
See also
21540 Itthipanyanan, an asteroid named after a student who authored an award-winning experiment on the dehiscence and dispersion of Ruellia tuberosa seed pods.
References
External links
Germplasm Resources Information Network: Copioglossa
PlantSystematics: Ruellia
Classification: Ruellia, species list at USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Tree of Life: Ruellia.
Acanthaceae genera