22 



Argentina plant Ruellia Tweediana* The specific name angusti- 

 folius being preoccupied under Ruellia, Dr. Britton in 1893 

 renamed Nees's species Ruellia spectahilis, an appropriate name 

 since it is one of the most showy members of the genus. 



Hemsley in the Biologia CentraH-Americana reports the plant 

 from Mexico as Ruellia Tweediana Griseb.?, citing only the 

 original collection by Galeotti. Dr. Lindau writes that few 

 specimens exist in European herbaria. In the U. S. National 

 Herbarium there is a single collection apparently referable here, 

 gathered by C. G. Pringle (no. 5043) on river ledges near Micos, 

 San Luis Potosi, Mexico, distributed as Ruellia Tweediana. 



About Houma, Louisiana, this plant appears to be an escape 

 from cultivation. Mr. Wurzlow states that in his early boy- 

 hood his father imported a number of plants for cultivation 

 and that this is probably one of them. It is now more or less 

 common in Terre Bonne Parish, growing in cultivated and waste 

 ground, often along ditches, seeming to prefer moist or wet places 

 where it spreads rapidly from seed. It is also found within 

 enclosures but grows without any care, the plants being so attrac- 

 tive with their handsome flowers and showing so little tendency 

 to become troublesome weeds, that they are not looked upon 

 as intruders. They grow to a height of 3 or 4 feet, sending up 

 new stems every year from the rootstocks and flowering from 

 July to October. The stems, branches of the inflorescence, and 

 veins of the leaves are more or less tinged with purple. The 

 corollas are lilac or purple and very showy, being about. 5 cm. 

 long. The leaves are narrow for the genus, being only 7 to 10 

 mm. wide, and 20 cm. long. 



The occurrence of Ruellia spectahilis in Louisiana is of parti- 

 cular interest because it must be rare in its native region, other- 

 wise so conspicuous a plant could not have been overlooked by 

 collectors. It does not seem to be frequent in cultivation for 

 it is seldom mentioned in literature. 



SlPHONANTHUS INDICA L. 



Siphonanihus indica L. Sp. PI. 109. 1753- 

 Ovieda mitis L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 889. 1762. 



* Symb. FI. Arg. 259. 1879. 



