Native & Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia

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2905

Forb
Perennial

Non-native: Mexico

Documented growing wild in GA - SC

Rare

Look for it in disturbed areas (it's commonly cultivated, especially in maritime situations along the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts), per Weakley's Flora

map
To see a detailed map, click here

 

LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Petioles absent or to 2cm long

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



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

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (5/21/15):
 Ruellia simplex   FAMILY Acanthaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
 Ruellia caerulea   FAMILY Acanthaceae

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)
 Ruellia malacosperma

 

COMMON NAME:
 Mexican Bluebell

Click or hover over the thumbnails to see larger pictures.

image of Ruellia simplex, Mexican Bluebell

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.

image of Ruellia simplex, Mexican Bluebell

Keith Bradley    kab_r_tweediana_77968

June    Miami-Dade County    FL

image of Ruellia simplex, Mexican Bluebell

Keith Bradley    kab_r_tweediana_77976

June    Miami-Dade County    FL

Corolla lobes to 2cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.