RUELLIA LILAC1NA. 
(Lilac-flowered Ruellia ) 
Class. Order. 
DIDYNAMIA. ANGIOSPERMIA. 
" Natural Order. 
ACANTHACEiE. 
Generic Character.— Calyx five-parted ; lobes equal 
or sub-equal. Corolla hypogynous, funnel-shaped; limb 
five-parted ; lobes equal, spreading, obtuse. Stamens 
four, inserted in the tube of the corolla, didynamous. 
Anthers oblong, two-celled ; cells parallel, equal. Ovary 
two-celled. Style simple. Stigma oval-shaped, chan- 
nelled at the back. Capsule oblong- quadrangular, 
two-celled, six to eight-seeded ; cells two-valved ; valves 
seed-bearing. Seeds adhering by a thread. 
Specific Character. — Plant an evergreen shrub. 
Branches herbaceous when young, glabrous. Leaves 
ovate, bluntly acuminate, many-nerved, entire at the 
margin. Flownrs axillary, generally two from each 
axil, sessile. Calyx less than two-thirds the length of 
the corolla, five-cleft ; segments subulate, erect, un- 
equal. Corolla — tube veiny, slender, very long, funnel- 
shaped, curved ; limb spreading, segments rounded, 
very obtuse, nearly equal, veined. Seeds orbicular, 
compressed, margined, and ciliated. 
Synonym^.— Justicia glabrata. 
Our subject is not the first of which we have had to record that, of its native 
country we have no direct evidence. It is one of the many plants introduced 
from the Continent without any memoranda to indicate its original clime. 
It has been very generally known, and as generally distributed by Nursery- 
men, as Justicia glabrata : the appearance of its leaves will at once account for its 
having been specified by such a title. 
As it has at present come under our observation, we have found it growing 
from eighteen inches to two feet high; the foliage of moderate size, and of a 
handsome shining dark-green hue. 
Hitherto we have scarcely seen a well-grown specimen, and we doubt not that 
if the plant were subjected to a liberal mode of treatment, it would attain to much 
greater dimensions than those before mentioned. Wherever any degree of atten- 
tion has been bestowed upon it, the improvement in the aspect of the plant, and 
the increased abundance of blossoms, fully justify the conclusions we have come 
to, and give us some reason to suppose that it may prove freer-flowering than 
many have imagined from merely observing it in a stunted condition. 
From its winter-flowering capacity it is likely to be useful to those who 
wish to have a display at that season ; and the appearance of its leaves is such as 
to render it a desirable object, even without the aid of blossoms to enhance its 
