''Ruellia simplex'', the Mexican petunia, Mexican bluebell or Britton's wild petunia, is a species of flowering plant 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 ...
that is native to
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. It has become a widespread
invasive plant
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native speci ...
in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, where it was likely introduced as an
ornamental Ornamental may refer to:
*Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration
*Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work
*Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...
before 1933,
as well as in the
eastern Mediterranean
The Eastern Mediterranean is a loosely delimited region comprising the easternmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, and well as the adjoining land—often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It includes the southern half of Turkey ...
,
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
and other parts of the
eastern hemisphere
The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to p ...
.
Taxonomy and synonyms
''Ruellia simplex''
C.Wright is the oldest and accepted name for this species, which has been variously called ''Ruellia angustifolia''
(Nees) Lindau, ''Ruellia brittoniana''
Leonard, and ''Cryphiacanthus angustifolius''
Nees, among several synonyms.
The genus 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.
...
, while the specific name refers to the simple, not compound leaves.
Description
''Ruellia simplex'' is an evergreen perennial growing tall, forming colonies of stalks with lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide.
The flowers are metallic blue to purple, trumpet-shaped with an about -wide, five-lobed
corolla. There is a dwarf variety that is only tall.
Distribution
''Ruellia simplex'' is native to Mexico, the West Indies, western Bolivia, southwestern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina. It has been widely used as an ornamental plant and has
escaped from cultivation in the United States, Australia and parts of Asia, as well as several Pacific Islands. It is one of the most common landscape plants in
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, due to its
drought-tolerance.
It has become invasive in some of these areas, forming dense, single-species stands of vegetation which threaten native plants. It is mainly a plant of wet places such as ditches, pond verges, lakesides and marshes, but can survive in drier conditions.
Control
The University of Florida's
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes ca ...
is trying to reduce the number of home gardeners who plant ''R. simplex'' by recommending alternatives, especially ''
Silphium asteriscus'', ''
Sisyrinchium angustifolium
''Sisyrinchium angustifolium'', commonly known as narrow-leaf blue-eyed-grass, is a herbaceous perennial growing from rhizomes, native to moist meadow and open woodland. It is the most common blue-eyed grass of the eastern United States, and is ...
'', ''
Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
''Stachytarpheta jamaicensis'' is a species of plant in the family Verbenaceae, native throughout the Caribbean, including Florida. It has many common names including blue porterweed, blue snake weed, bastard vervain, Brazilian tea, Jamaica verv ...
'', ''
Stokesia laevis'', but also including some ''R. simplex'' cultivars that are sterile.
References
External links
''Ruellia simplex'' in Florida.Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants.
IPNI Listing
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1902176
simplex
In geometry, a simplex (plural: simplexes or simplices) is a generalization of the notion of a triangle or tetrahedron to arbitrary dimensions. The simplex is so-named because it represents the simplest possible polytope in any given dimension. ...
Plants described in 1870
Ornamental plants
Garden plants of North America
Garden plants of South America
Drought-tolerant plants