''Ruellia caroliniensis'', the Carolina wild petunia, is a
wild petunia of the family
Acanthaceae
Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...
native to the southeastern United States. Its native range spans the eastern coast with the northernmost extent reaching New Jersey
Description
''Ruellia caroliniensis'' is a herbaceous perennial with purple or pinkish flowers that vary in shade.
The plants grow to be up to 3 feet tall and have crowded, opposite, lanceolate to elliptic leaves.
The root system is fibrous and thick.
The flowers grow in axillary clusters of 2-4 and have long, funnelform corollas with five distinct lobes and grow from.
The plant begins blooming in spring and continues through summer, each bloom lasting for about one day.
[Florida Native Plant Society https://www.fnps.org/assets/pdf/pubs/ruellia_caroliniensis_carolinawildpetunia_3_1.pdf] Typically not all flowers in a cluster will be open at one time.
It can be distinguished form other species in the ''
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 euasterids I, euasterid clade. The genus was named in honor of ...
'' genus by long, pointed calyx lobes and bracts that remain as the flowers wilt.
Etymology
The genus ''Ruellia'' is named after French botanist
Jean Ruel
Jean Ruel (1474 – 24 September 1537), also known as Jean Ruelle or Ioannes Ruellius in its Latinised form, was a French physician and botanist noted for the 1536 publication in Paris of ''De Natura Stirpium'', a Renaissance treatise on botany.
...
, who is known for his translating of botanical publications into Latin in the early sixteenth century.
''Caroliniensis'' is a latinized word meaning "of the Carolinas",
referring to its native range or location of discovery.
The common name "petunia" is derived from the obsolete French word ''petun'', meaning "tobacco".
Synonyms of ''Ruellia caroliniensis'' include ''Pattersonia caroliniensis'', ''Ruellia caroliniensis'' var. ''caroliniensis'', and ''Ruellia caroliniensis'' var. ''typica''.
Reproduction
After pollination, a seed capsule forms at the leaf axil where the flower originated.
The seeds of ''Ruellia caroliniensis'' are dispersed through
explosive dehiscence
Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that op ...
. When the seed capsules of the plant reach maturity (after about two months), they burst open propelling the seeds away from the parent plant.
Ecology
''Ruellia caroliniensis'' attracts a variety of pollinators, particularly
lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...
ns. It is a larval host for the
common buckeye butterfly (''Junonia coenia'') and the
white peacock butterfly (''Anartia jatrophae'').
The strong, woody root system allows for resilience from frost or wildfire.
References
caroliniensis
Flora of the Southeastern United States
Plants described in 1841
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
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