''Ruellia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s commonly known as ruellias or wild petunias. They are not closely related to

petunia ''Petunia'' is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word , 'tobacco', from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial plan ...

s (''Petunia'') although both genera belong to the same

euasterid Asterids are a large clade (monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked clades lamiids (8 orders) and ...

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

. The genus was named in honor of

Jean Ruelle 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. ...

(1474–1537),

herbalist Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

and

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

and translator of several works of

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Materia medica, Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic phar ...

. Numerous formerly independent genera are nowadays considered

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with ''Ruellia'', including ''Blechum'', ''Eusiphon'', and ''Ulleria''. ''

Acanthopale ''Acanthopale'' is a plant genus of shrubs or subshrubs in the Acanthaceae plant family. The genus name is based on the classic Greek words for thorn ''ákantha'' and stake ''palum''. Some species in the genus are cultivated as ornamental plant ...

'' and ''

Polylychnis ''Polylychnis radicans'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Acanthaceae. It is native to Guyana and French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department ...

'' are considered a distinct genera. Ruellias are popular

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

s. Some are used as

medicinal plant Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

s, but many are known or suspected to be poisonous. Their leaves are food for the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s of several

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 ...

(butterflies and moths), typically

Nymphalinae The Nymphalinae are a subfamily of brush-footed butterflies (family (biology), family Nymphalidae). Sometimes, the subfamilies Limenitidinae, and Biblidinae are included here as subordinate tribe (biology), tribe(s), while the tribe Melitaeini is ...

and in particular members of their

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Junoniini Junoniini is a tribe of nymphalid ( brush-footed) butterflies.

, such as the larvae of the banded peacock (''

Anartia fatima ''Anartia fatima'', the banded peacock, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is commonly found in south Texas, Mexico, and Central America but most studied in Costa Rica. This butterfly prefers subtropical climates and moist areas, such a ...

''). Nymphalinae using ''Ruellia'' as host plants include the

common buckeye ''Junonia coenia'', known as the common buckeye or buckeye, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Its range covers much of North America and some of Central America, including most of the eastern half of the US, the lower to middle Midwest, ...

(''Junonia coenia''), recorded on '' R. nodiflora'', the

lemon pansy ''Junonia lemonias'', the lemon pansy, is a common nymphalid butterfly found in Cambodia and South Asia. It is found in gardens, fallow land, and open wooded areas. Description It is brown with numerous eyespots as well as black and lemon-yel ...

(''Junonia lemonias''), recorded on '' R. tuberosa'', and the

malachite butterfly ''Siproeta stelenes'' (malachite) is a Neotropical brush-footed butterfly (family Nymphalidae). The malachite has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the upperside and light brown and olive green on the underside. It ...

(''Siproeta stelenes'') and

Australian lurcher ''Yoma sabina'', the Australian lurcher, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the northern Australasian realm and in Southeast Asia. The wingspan is around 7 cm. The larvae feed on '' Dipteracanthus bracteatu ...

(''Yoma sabina''), which are recorded on several species. Ruellia elegans in Kadavoor

Selected species

365 species are accepted. They include: * '' Ruellia acutangula'' * '' Ruellia affinis'' (Schrad.) T.Anderson * '' Ruellia angustior'' * '' Ruellia asperula'' * '' Ruellia bahiensis'' * '' Ruellia blechum'' L. * '' Ruellia blumei'' Steud. * '' Ruellia bourgaei'' Hemsl. * '' Ruellia brevifolia'' (Pohl) C.Ezcurra – tropical wild petunia, red Christmas pride * '' Ruellia californica'' * ''

Ruellia caroliniensis ''Ruellia caroliniensis'', the Carolina wild petunia, is a wild petunia of the family Acanthaceae native to the southeastern United States. Its native range spans the eastern coast with the northernmost extent reaching New Jersey Description ...

'' (J.F.Gmel.) Steud. * '' Ruellia chartacea'' (T.Anderson) Wassh. * '' Ruellia ciliatiflora'' Hook. * '' Ruellia currorii'' * '' Ruellia densa'' * '' Ruellia devosiana'' Jacob-Makoy ex E.Morren * '' Ruellia dielsii'' * '' Ruellia dioscoridis'' * '' Ruellia dissitifolia'' * '' Ruellia drummondiana'' (Nees) A.Gray * '' Ruellia elegans'' Poir. * '' Ruellia eurycodon'' * '' Ruellia fulgida'' Andrews * '' Ruellia geminiflora'' – ''ipecacuanha-da-flor-roxa'' ( Portuguese) * '' Ruellia hapalotricha'' * '' Ruellia helianthema'' * '' 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 jussieuoides'' * '' 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 multifolia'' * '' Ruellia nitens'' * '' Ruellia noctiflora'' * '' Ruellia novogaliciana'' T.F. Daniel * '' Ruellia nudiflora'' (Engelm. & A.Gray) Urb. * '' Ruellia patula'' * '' Ruellia paulayana'' * '' Ruellia pedunculata'' * '' Ruellia prostrata'' Poir. * '' Ruellia rasa'' * '' Ruellia rosea'' (Nees) Hemsl. * '' Ruellia rufipila'' * '' Ruellia simplex'' C.Wright * '' Ruellia spissa'' Leonard * '' Ruellia stemonacanthoides'' (Oerst.) Hemsl. * '' Ruellia strepens'' L. * '' Ruellia trachyphylla'' * ''

Ruellia tuberosa ''Ruellia tuberosa'', also known as minnieroot, fever root, snapdragon root and sheep potato (), is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae. Its native range is in Central America but it has become naturalized in Africa (Tanzania ...

'' L. – minnie root, fever root, snapdragon root, sheep potato, popping pod, duppy gun, cracker plant (syn. ''R. picta'') * '' Ruellia verbasciformis'' * '' Ruellia villosa''

Uncertain status

* '' Ruellia brevicaulis'' (synonym ''Dipteracanthus brevicaulis'' ) –

Unplaced In biological classification, a ''species inquirenda'' is a species of doubtful identity requiring further investigation. The use of the term in English-language biological literature dates back to at least the early nineteenth century. The ter ...

* '' Ruellia eriocalyx'' * '' Ruellia flava'' – Unplaced * '' Ruellia pohlii'' (synonym ''Dipteracanthus pohlii'' ) – Unplaced * '' Ruellia stenandrium''

Formerly placed here

Numerous plants, mainly in 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 ...

, 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 ''Blepharis'' is a genus of plant in family Acanthaceae. It contains around 128 species found in seasonally dry to arid habitats from Africa through Arabia to Southeast Asia. In section ''Acanthodium'', there are 13–15 species that use the ca ...

'' (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.) *'' Mackaya neesiana'' (as ''R. neesiana'' ) *''

Stenandrium dulce ''Stenandrium '' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae native to the Americas, with 50 species of perennial herbs ranging from the southern United States to northern Argentina and central Chile. Species 50 species are accepted ...

'' (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.) *'' Strobilanthes tomentosa'' (as ''R. tomentosa'' ) *'' Teliostachya alopecuroidea'' Nees (as ''R. alopecuroidea'', ''R. alopecuroides'')

References

External links

Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Copioglossa''PlantSystematics: ''Ruellia''Tree of Life: ''Ruellia''.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1280862 Acanthaceae genera Pantropical flora

Selected species

Uncertain status

Formerly placed here

See also

References

External links