Justicia nilgherrensis

Justicia nilgherrensis (Nees) Wall. ex C.B.Clarke, Fl. Brit. India 4: 526 1885. (syn. Adhatoda nilgerrhensis Nees; Ecbolium nilgerrhense (Nees) Kuntze; Justicia betonica var. nilgherrensis (Nees) T.Anderson);
 

Herbs with woody thick rootstock and long roots; stem often numerous, procumbent. Leaves opposite, 3-3.5 x 0.5-1 cm, sessile, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, soft, greyish green in colour, glabrous, minutely punctuate, finely ciliate along the margin. Flowers in 4-10cm long spikes; bracts 1.5 x 0.7 cm, ovate, very acute, white but with large green nerves; bracteoles nearly as large. Calyx lobes five, 5 mm long, all equal, linear acute, jointed only near the base. Corolla tube slightly longer, broadening suddenly above the base: upper lip 8 mm long, very concave, notched: lower lip 1 cm broad, 3-fid; lobes spreading; middle lobe rounded, slightly broader than the laterals. Capsule 2 cm long, dark purple above, velvety tomentose, laterally contracted at the base; seeds 4 mm across, papillate.

Flowering and fruiting: February-March
Grasslands
Southern Western Ghats
 

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Justicia nilgherrensis : Attachments (1).  2 posts by 2 authors.
Justicia nilgherrensis (Nees) Wall. ex T.Anderson (= Adhatoda nilgherrensis Nees) is a taxonomically interesting endemic species. Its type locality is Nilgiri hills, TN.

I collected this from Javvadhu hills, Tiruvannamalai and published an article about its distribution in the journal MyForest in 2005. As i didn’t have a camera at that time i couldn’t take photo. So, i am attaching scanned image of my herbarium collection of this species.

Thanks, … It’s turning out be really interesting & we are always learning a lot under your guidance.
I am having a similar plant clicked at Talakona forest in Aug’08, which remained largely unidentified.
I am forwarding it again for your feedback in a separate mail to avoid confusion.

 

 

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Justicia nilgherrensis (Nees) Wall. ex C.B.Clarke : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (3)
Plant name: Justicia nilgherrensis (Nees) Wall. ex C.B.Clarke, Fl. Brit. India 4: 526. 1885.
Family: Acanthaceae
Description:
Herbs, stems procumbent; 30-50cm tall. Leaves opposite; lamina sessile, oblong-lanceolate, 3-4 × 0.5-1 cm, obtuse, entire or incipiently crenulate, glabrous. Flowers white, 0.8-1cm across, in 5-10cm long spikes; bracts 1.5 × 0.7 cm, ovate, acute, with green nerves; bracteoles nearly as large. Calyx lobes five, 5 mm long, all equal, linear acute, connate at base. Corolla white with red lines, tube broadening suddenly above the base: upper lip 8 mm long, very concave, notched: lower lip 1 cm broad, 3-fid; lobes spreading; middle lobe rounded, slightly broader than the laterals. Stamens 2, staminal filaments basally dilated; anthers oblong. Ovary oblong, pubescent; style filiform. Capsule 2 cm long,clavate, puberulous, dark purple above, velvety tomentose, laterally contracted at the base; seeds 4 mm across, papillate.
Habitat & location: Rare. found in rock crevices in high altitudes.