RUELLIA. 



fhree apparent whorls, from the upper leaves. BraHeas 

 lanceolate, fringed, rifing above the calyx, whofe fegments 

 are awl-fhaped, very narrow, and hairy, rather longer than 

 the ripe capfule. 



3. R. patula. Spreading Ruellia. Jacq. Mifc. 2. 358. 

 t. 119. Willd. n. 6. Ait. n. 3. — Leaves ltalked, ovate, 

 entire, very obtufe, downy. Flowers ternate, nearly feflile. 

 Stem much branched, fpreading. Capfule above twice the 

 length of the calyx. — Native of the Eaft Indies ; imported 

 by fir J. Banlc6, in 1777. This is a fhrubby fpecies, flower- 

 ing copioufly in the ftove, in July and Auguft. The leaves 

 are fhorter and broader than in the foregoing, rounded, and 

 fomewhat heart-fhaped. Flowers light blue. Calyx fmall. 

 The whole plant is finely downy. 



4. R. laclea. White Mexican Ruellia. Cavan. Ic. v. 3. 



28. t. 255. Willd. n. 9. Ait. n. 4 Leaves (talked, 



ovate, fringed, flightly toothed. Stalks about three-flowered, 

 very fhert. Stem woolly, eredt. Capfule fhorter than the 

 calyx. — Native of Mexico. It has been difperfed from the 

 garden of Madrid, to different parts of Europe, and proves 

 a tolerably hardy green-houfe plant, flowering in fummer. 

 The Jlem is herbaceous, eredt, a foot high, fquare, covered 

 with long, denfe, woollv hairs. Leaves three or four inches 

 long, and two broad. Flowers of a pale blueifh-white, the 

 central one without bracleas. Segments of the calyx hairy, 

 very long and (lender. 



5. R. clandeflina. Covert- flowering Ruellia. Linn. Sp. 

 PL 88c. Willd. n. 10. Ait. 11. 5. (R. capfulis tereti- 

 bus ; Dill. Elth. 328. t. 248.) — Leaves ftalked, oblong, 

 obtufe, fomewhat toothed ; tapering at the bafe. Stalks 

 three-flowered, rather fhorter than the leaves. Capfule 

 nearly cylindrical, longer than the calyx. — Native of Bar- 

 badoes and Santa Cruz. A perennial itove plant, flowering 

 in July and Auguft, but feldom cultivated. The root con- 

 fifts of many long, thick, flefhy fibres. Stem a fpan high, 

 clothed with numerous, large, undulating leaves. Flowers 

 large, blue, on (lender elongated ltalks. Cal\x linear and very 

 narrow, fcarcely above half the length of the capfule, which 

 is obfcurely quadrangular when ripe, containing a great 

 number of flat, downy feeds, bordered with a white mem- 

 brane. The corolla o^ the earliell flowers is faid to be fmall 

 and imperfeft. 



6. R. paniculata. Panicled Ruellia. Linn. Sp. PI. 885. 

 Willd. n. 18. Ait. n. 6. (Speculum veneris majus, impa- 

 tiens ; Sloane Jam. v. 1. 158. t. 100. f. 2.) — Leaves ovate, 

 pointed, rough, entire. Stalks manv-flowered, forked, di- 

 varicated, longer than the leaves. Upper fegment of the 

 calyx rather the broadeft. Native of the Welt Indies. 

 Sloane fpeaks of it as common about Kingfton in Jamaica, 

 growing among bufhes. Miller and Linnaeus cultivated this 

 plant, and it may be met with fometimes in ftoves, flower- 

 ing in fummer. The habit is fomewhat fhrubby, and the 

 herbage hoary. Leaves copious, from two to four inches 

 long, on (talks about half their length. Flower-Jlalks axil- 

 lary, chiefly about the upper part of the (tern, and extend- 

 ing beyond the leaves, fo as to give the whole plant a pani- 

 cled appearance. Bracleas oblong, obtufe. Each flower 

 is nearly feflile, of a bright light blue, with a long (lender 

 tube. Segments of the calyx hifpid, linear, very narrow, 

 one of them twice as broad as The relt. Sloane fays the 

 tapfule throws out the feeds with violence, when it is either 

 touched or wetted at the end. 



7. R. tuberofa. Tuberous-rooted Ruellia. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 885. Willd. n. 19. Ait. n. 7. (Gentianella fiore 

 civ-uleo, integro vafculo feminali ex humidi contatlu impa- 

 tiente ; Sloane Jam. v. 1. 149. t. 95. f. I.) — Leaves ovate- 

 swedge-Jhaped, crenate. Flower-italks deeply-three-cleft. 



Stem fimple. — Native of Jamaica, in bulhy places near 

 Kingfton, flowering after the rainy feafon. The perennial 

 root confifts of many long flefhy knobs. Stem ereft, herba- 

 ceous, a foot high, a little hairy. Leaves fpreading, mi- 

 nutely and fparii.'gly hairy, each tapering down into a long 

 footftalk. Flower-flalks (lender, axillary, folitary, fhorter 

 than the leaves. Calyx very long and (lender, rough with 

 clofe bridles. Corolla large, of a fine blue. Capfule the 

 length of the calyx ; we do not perceive it to be more an- 

 gular than that of R. clandeflina, though Dillenius indicates 

 the contrary. Seeds numerous. 



8. R. btjlora. Two -flowered Ruellia. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 886. Willd. n. 21. Ait. n. 8. (R. oblongifolia ; Mi- 

 chaux Boreali-Amer. v. 2. 23 ? Purfh n. 2 ?) — " Flowers in 

 pairs, feflile. — Native of Carolina, from whence it was fent 

 to Kew, in 1765, by Mr. John Cree. It is kept in the 

 greenhoufe, being an herbaceous perennial, flowering in 

 July. We have feen no authentic fpecimen, nor have we 

 any further knowledge ot this fpecies than what occurs in 

 Linnaeus. R. oblongifolia of Michaux, fufpe&ed by Mr. 

 Purfh to be the fame plant, is defcribed as " afcending, all 

 over minutely and denlely downy, with erect., nearly feflile, 

 obovate-oblong leaves, and mottly folitary _y?cuvr.r." Purfh 

 adds that " the bracleas are the length of the calyx, whofe 

 thread-fhaped fegments are the length of the tube of the co- 

 rolla." He adds that it grows " in fandy pine woods of 

 Georgia, flowering in June and July," and that " the flowers 

 are a yellowifh-bluc," a colour not very intelligible to us ; 

 but the author only law them dried. 



9. R. ocymoides. Brafil-leaved Ruellia. Cavan. Ic. v. 5. 

 9. t. 416. Ait. Hort, Kew. Epit. 373. — Stem branched, 

 erect. Leaves ovate, obtule, entire ; glaucous beneath. 

 Flowers axillary, ternate. Bradteas ovate. Calyx tubu- 

 lar at the bafe. — Native of Mexico ; cultivated in the gar- 

 den of Madrid, and introduced at Kew in 1798. It is 

 biennial, flowering in the ltove from July to September, and 

 may perhaps be perennial in its native country. The flem is 

 about fix inches high, branched from the bottom, fomewhat 

 downy like the relt of the plant. Leaves oppofite, on long 

 ltalks, concave ; dark green above ; glaucous beneath. 

 Flowers feflile, with an ovate ftalked braiJea at the bafe of 

 each. Calyx with a perceptible tube, though much (horter 

 than the lalt ; its fegments awl-fliaped, rather unequal. Co- 

 rolla pale blue, with a white tube. 



10. R. formnfa. Large Scarlet Ruellia. Ait. n. 10. 

 Andr. Repof. t. 610. Curt. Mag. t. 1400. — Leaves ftalked, 

 ovate, entire, dmvny on both fides. Stalks axillary, alter- 

 nate, very long, with few flowers. Corolla fomewhat rin- 

 gent. Native of Brafil. Said to have been introduced into 

 England by fir Charles Cotton, in 1808. It proves a great 

 ornament to our ftoves, which are decorated all fummer long 

 with its very large and fplendid fcarlet_/?!Jw<7V. The flem is 

 in lome degree fhrubby, erctt, three or tour feet high, iquare, 

 finely hairy, as well as the relt of the herbage, whofe colour 

 is a greyifli-green. Flower-flalks twice or thrice as long as 

 the leaves. Segments of the calyx deep and linear. Lobes 

 of the corolla emarginate. Capfule obovate, the length of 

 the calyx. Seeds numerous, lenticular, rough. Very dif- 

 ferent from the macrophylla of Vahl's Symbolx, v. 2. 72. 

 t. 39, which, according to Mr. Brown, is no Ruellia, having 

 but two feeds in each cell, and Itill generically different, as 

 he thinks from R. intrufa, &c. mentioned in our introductory 

 part of this article. 



11. R. ftdgida. Lefler Scarlet Ruellia. Ait. n. II. 

 Andr. Repof. t. 527. — Leaves ltalked, ovate, pointed, 

 crenate, hairy. Tufts many- flowered, on long axillary 

 (talks. Corolla fomewhat ringent, with a nearly cylindrical 



tube. 



