NameThatPlant.net: Ruellia simplex

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ruellia simplex FAMILY Acanthaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ruellia caerulea FAMILY Acanthaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)

Ruellia simplex

SYNONYMOUS WITH Ruellia simplex, older name for R. tweediana & R. coerulea (Ezcurra & Daniel, 2007)

Ruellia simplex

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 171-03-004:

Ruellia brittoniana FAMILY Acanthaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Ruellia malacosperma

COMMON NAME:
Mexican Bluebell, Mexican Petunia

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Ruellia simplex, Mexican Bluebell, Mexican Petunia

Keith Bradley kab_r_tweediana_77956

June Miami-Dade County FL

Calyx lobes linear, 3.5-10mm long. Corolla tube about equaling throat, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

Keith Bradley kab_r_tweediana_77968

June Miami-Dade County FL

Keith Bradley kab_r_tweediana_77976

June Miami-Dade County FL

Corolla lobes to 2cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ruellia simplex FAMILY Acanthaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ruellia caerulea FAMILY Acanthaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Ruellia simplex

SYNONYMOUS WITH Ruellia simplex, older name for R. tweediana & R. coerulea (Ezcurra & Daniel, 2007)
Ruellia simplex

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 171-03-004:
Ruellia brittoniana FAMILY Acanthaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ruellia malacosperma

2905

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Disturbed areas, commonly cultivated, especially in maritime situations along the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts, persistent and spreading (including by seed) to adjacent areas, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: eastern Mexico

Rare

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Petioles absent or to 2cm long

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Blue-violet (rarely pink)
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed funnelform corolla
4 included stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual

Flowers in open cymes

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Brown/Yellow-brown
Capsule

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"We treasure pictures and sculpture. We regard Attic temples and Roman triumphal arches and Gothic cathedrals as of priceless value. But we are, as a whole, still in that low state of civilization where we do not understand that it is also vandalism wantonly to destroy or permit the destruction of what is beautiful in nature, whether it be a cliff, a forest, or a species of mammal or bird. Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals — not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements." — Theodore Roosevelt

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