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Justicia filibracteolata Lindau
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Family: Acanthaceae
[Justicia filibracteolata var. leucantha Leonard, moreJusticia filibracteolata var. lilacina Leonard]  David Torres |
Justicia filibracteolata Lindau, Bull. Herb. Boiss. 5: 673. 1897. Type col- lected along the Río Guacaica near Manizales, Department of Antioquia, Colombia, 1,800 meters altitude, September 14, 1883, by F. C. Lehmann, No. 3094. Photograph of type (B) in the U. S. National Herbarium (Field Mus. No. 8826). Dianthera secunda (Vahl) Griseb. var. holtonii Hochr. Bull. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 6: 287. 1910. Type collected at La Paila, Department of Cauca, Colombia, June 6, 1853, by I. F. Holton, s. n. Holotype NY, isotype K. Herbs rarely over 1 meter high, erect or ascending, simple or mod- erately branched; stems obscurely quadrangular, shallowly sulcate, at least above, glabrous or sparingly puberulous, the hairs curved and subappressed, about 0.25 mm. long, disposed more or less in 2 rows, the internodes of the stems up to 12 cm. long but usually 6 cm. or less; leaf blades lanceolate, up to 20 cm. long and 6 cm. wide but averaging 15 cm. in length and 3 cm. in width, acuminate, often slenderly so (the tip itself acute or obtuse), narrowed at base, rather thin, entire or undulate, the upper surface glabrous or sparingly to moderately hirsute, the hairs up to 0.75 mm. long, more or less curved, the lower surface glabrous or very sparingly hirtellous or occasionally rather densely so, the hairs curved, up to 0.38 mm. long, the costa and lateral veins (9 or 10 pairs) prominent, the cystoliths of both surfaces small but rather prominent under a lens, up to 0.2 mm. long; petioles 1 to 1.5 cm. long or occasionally up to 4 cm. long, the channels more or less densely puberulous with curved hairs; flowers borne in dense panicles usually up to 10 cm. long and 3 cm. broad, the flowers and bracts more or less secund, the rachises and peduncles rather densely puberulous, the hairs retrorsely curved, about 0.1 mm. long, the pedun- cles 2 to 6 cm. long, the lower branches of the panicle often borne in the axils of the uppermost leaf blades; bracts subulate, usually up to 12 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide at base, keeled, glabrous or sparingly hirtellous, the hairs up to 0.2 mm. long, brownish; bractlets subulate, up to 3 mm. long and 0.25 mm. wide, glabrous or sparingly hirtellous; calyx 1 cm. long, deeply segmented, the segments lanceolate, 9 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide slightly above middle, rather densely hirtellous, the hairs straight, brownish, up to 0.3 mm. long, the costa, veins and reticulated veinlets prominent; corolla 2 to 4 cm. long, pink, purple, violet or lilac, glabrous below, finely pilose toward tip, the hairs spreading, up to 0.4 mm. long, the nerves conspicuous, the tube 1 em. long, 2.5 mm. broad at base, gradually enlarged to 4 mm. at mouth, the upper lip oblong-elliptic, more or less erect, 12 mm. long, 4 mm. wide at middle, plicate, dorsally pilose, minutely glandular- puberulous on the upper surface, rounded and emarginate at tip, the lower lip ovate, spreading, 13 mm. long, 9 mm. wide, transversely fluted, saccate, 3-lobed, the lobes ovate, rounded, 3 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide; stamens exserted 8 mm. beyond the mouth of the corolla, the filaments glabrous or bearing a few hairs near the base, the staminal plaits densely and retrorsely pilose, the anther lobes slightly super- posed, the connective 0.75 mm. broad, the upper lobe 1.5 mm. long, 0.75 mm. broad, white-puberulous on margin, muticous and subapic- ulate at base, the lower cell 1 mm. long and 0.5 mm. broad, white- puberulous on margin, tipped by a white tail about 0.2 mm. long; style 17 mm. long, glabrous, the stigma minutely bilobed; capsule short-clavate, 8 mm. long, 3 mm. broad, 2.5 mm. thick (the solid basal portion 3.5 mm. long), rather sparingly and finely puberulous, the hairs white, up to 0.15 mm. long, retrorsely ascending except at tip of capsule, there spreading; retinacula 2 mm. long, curved, the tip thin, obtuse, subcucullate, minutely lacerate; seeds 4, ovate, flattened, 2.5 long, 2 mm. broad, about 0.5 mm. thick, glabrous, the margin re- curved over a concave surface and bordered by a row of flattish hairs up to 0.2 mm. long, these merging to form a thin lamina toward base of seed. The species is partial to forests and thickets, often growing along streams. It occurs at various altitudes (50 to 2,000 meters) but seems to be most common between 1,000 and 2,000 meters. |
