Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

LIMESTONE RUELLIA

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Ruellia strepens L.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 12-40 inches

Family: Acanthaceae - Acanthus Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July

Also Called:

Woodland ruellia, limestone wild petunia, smooth ruellia.

Stems:

Erect, slender, simple or sparingly branched, somewhat 4-sided, glabrous or more commonly with 2 narrow, longitudinal lines of pubescence.

Leaves:

Opposite, simple, stalk 1/8 to 4/5 inch long, ovate-lanceolate, 2 to 6.4 inches long, 3/5 to 2.4 inches wide, thin, glabrous to sparsely hairy; veins conspicuous on underside; margins entire to remotely shallow-toothed, fringed with minute hairs; tip tapering to sharp point or occasionally blunt.

Inflorescences:

1-3 flowers clustered in leaf axils; flowering stalks to 2.5 inches long; subtended by 2 leaf-like bracts, lanceolate to obovate, .4 to 1.6 inch long, glabrous to hairy.

Flowers:

Calyx lobes 5, linear-lanceolate, .4 to .8 inch long, 1/12 to 1/6 inch wide, glabrous or hairy; corolla funnel-shaped, 1.2 to 2.8 inches long, .8 to 1.6 inch wide, 5-lobed, blue, lavender or dark violet, rarely white, inner surface often with dark lines; stamens 4, in 2 groups; stigma hook-shaped.

Fruits:

Capsule, club-shaped or spindle-shaped, .4 to .8 inch long, tan to brown, glabrous, longer than or equaling calyx; seeds 6-20, round, 1/10 to 1/8 inch in diameter, flattened, occasionally sparsely hairy.

Habitat:

Dry open woods. thickets, stream banks, pond and lake margins; requires partial shade; well-drained rocky soils.

Distribution:

East 1/2 of Kansas

Origin:

Native

Comments:

The flowers bloom 1 or 2 at a time. The flowers open during the night and fall by the following night. Produces closed, self-pollinating flowers during late summer and early fall. Limestone ruellia withstands drought conditions.

See fringe-leaf ruellia

Limestone ruellia